[7] Due to a papillomavirus infection, Keiko experienced skin outbreaks, first observed while he was housed in Ontario, Canada, prior to his transfer to Mexico City,[8] which complicated both his candidacy for relocation[7] and for eventual release into the wild.

[9] Outcry for Keiko's liberation arose from the film's credits containing a phone number for whale preservation that received hundreds of thousands of call-ins.

[8][9][1] A Lockheed L-100 Hercules cargo plane donated by United Parcel Service (UPS) hauled Keiko to Newport, Oregon on 8 January 1996.

[15][14](p 703) The Norwegian pro-whaling politician Steinar Bastesen made international news for his statement that Keiko should instead be killed and the meat sent to Africa as foreign aid.

[16] Nevertheless, the process of preparing Keiko for the wild began on 9 September 1998, when he was flown to Klettsvík, a bay on the island of Heimaey in Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland.

He was initially housed in a pen in the Klettsvik Bay where he underwent training designed to prepare him for his eventual release, including supervised swims in the open ocean.

The Free Willy-Keiko Foundation and The Humane Society of the United States re-established management of the project at that time until Keiko's death in 2003.

[19] Keiko was fully free by the summer of 2002 and departed Icelandic waters in early August, following some orcas but not integrated with the pod.

[14] About a month later, he arrived in Norway's Skålvik Fjord, apparently seeking contact with human beings and allowing children to ride on his back.

Keiko had a tracking device attached to his dorsal fin that allowed his four handlers to pinpoint his location as long as he stayed within range.

Executive director of the Free Willy-Keiko foundation stated that Keiko was relatively healthy, up until a quick onset of symptoms which consisted of lethargy and loss of appetite the day before.

Dale Richards, one of his handlers, said Keiko died quickly after an irregular respiration rate was measured at age 27 on 12 December 2003.

A spokesman of the Humane Society of the United States, Nick Braden, said that veterinarians administered antibiotics to Keiko after he started showing symptoms that Thursday, however this was not enough to prevent his death.

A report in The Guardian describes the freed orca's life in Taknes Bay as follows: "... until his death Keiko was, rather than frolicking freely in his fjord, being taken for 'walks' by caretakers in a small boat at least three times a week.

It took more than 60 failed attempts to reunite Keiko with free orcas before he followed a group where, spotting a fishing vessel off the Norwegian coast, he followed it into the fjords that would prove his final resting place.

Reasons cited for Keiko's failure to adapt include his early age at capture, the long history of captivity, prolonged lack of contact with other orcas, and strong bonds with humans.

[14] In spite of those comments, David Phillips, executive director of the Free Willy-Keiko Foundation, praised the release project: "We took the hardest candidate and took him from near death in Mexico to swimming with wild whales in Norway".