“In Killing Keiko, Simmons sets the record straight and details why the unfortunate star of Free Willy was not ultimately a release candidate and why human agendas led to his death.”—Gregory D. Bossart, VMD, Ph.D., senior vice president of Animal Health, Research and Conservation, Georgia Aquarium.


“I’ve not heard of such a story since Born Free. In Killing Keiko, you’ll learn about the struggle and challenges facing everyone as they attempted to teach Keiko to live and thrive in the wild.”—Jack Hanna, director emeritus, Columbus Zoo

The true story of Keiko, the world’s most famous killer whale and his release to Icelandic waters has gone untold until now. Millions of Free Willy movie enthusiasts have been led to believe that Keiko’s return to the wild was a triumph, just like the Hollywood version. But according to author Mark Simmons, director of the Keiko Animal Behavior Team on the Keiko Release Project, the whale’s riveting story is one of unnecessary tragedy. Killing Keiko unveils the shocking evolution and collapse of the whale’s rehabilitation, covering his final trek across the North Atlantic to his heart-wrenching death in Norway. In life, Keiko was undoubtedly the most famous whale in history. In death, he became the most famous case of animal abuse the world could not yet fathom.