1977 or 1978: Keiko is born in the Atlantic Ocean near Iceland.

1979: Keiko is captured and brought to Saedyrasfnid, an Icelandic aquarium.

1982: Marineland in Ontario, Canada, buys Keiko, where he begins his training and performs for the public. Skin lesions first appear.

1985: Marineland sells Keiko to Reino Aventura, an amusement park in Mexico City, for $350,000.

1992: Warner Bros. Studios begins filming "Free Willy" on location in Mexico City. The plot of the movie has a young boy saving a killer whale, portrayed by Keiko, from an unscrupulous marine park owner.

1993: "Free Willy" is a surprise hit at the theaters, especially with millions of schoolchildren around the world. That support, along with a magazine story detailing Keiko's unacceptable living conditions at the small amusement park in Mexico City, prompts the movie company and the park to begin a search for a new home for Keiko.

1994: Earth Island Institute, an environmental advocacy group for marine animals, begins discussions with the Oregon Coast Aquarium. After the aquarium meets preliminary requirements, the institute begins negotiations with the aquarium. The Free Willy Foundation is formed in November with a $4 million donation from Warner Bros. and an anonymous donor.

1995: The Mexico City amusement park donates Keiko to the Free Willy Keiko Foundation. The foundation announces Keiko will live at a new $7.3 million rehabilitation facility at the aquarium, with the hope he eventually will be returned to live in the North Atlantic some day. Craig McCaw and the McCaw Foundation are revealed as the anonymous donors of $2 million that helped start the Free Willy Keiko Foundation. The Humane Society of the United States donates $1 million to the foundation, and children around the world begin sending in money for Keiko's freedom. "Free Willy 2" is released on home video, each video carrying a request for donations to be sent to the Free Willy Keiko Foundation. The pool at the aquarium is filled with water in December, in anticipation of Keiko arriving on the announced target date of Jan. 7, 1996.

1996: United Parcel Service delivers Keiko to the aquarium on Jan. 7. Weighing just 7,720 pounds, Keiko is placed in his new pool and experiences sea water for the first time in 14 years. Keiko gains more than 1,000 pounds by year's end, and his skin lesions begin to fade.

1997: Keiko's staff begins introducing him to live fish in May, in an effort to teach him to hunt for food. His skin lesions have all disappeared. At first he does not eat the fish, but brings them to his trainers. He catches and eats his first fish in August. A filtration problem causes a halt in the live-fish release in his tank, but the program resumes early in 1998. After 18 months in Newport, Keiko is lifted from the water and weighed in June. He weighs 9,620 pounds, a gain of 1,900 pounds. The staff of the Free Willy Foundation sets a goal of releasing Keiko into a pen in the North Atlantic by 1998. Keiko suffers from a possible liver ailment and respiratory infection but responds to treatment.

1998: A medical staff panel announces Keiko is healthy and exhibiting normal behavior patterns of a killer whale. In April, Familian Industrial Plastics in Washougal begins building a bay pen for Keiko. The components are shipped to Iceland, where they will be assembled. Keiko is eating live steelhead weighing from three to 12 pounds, eating up to half of his daily intake of food. On September 9, Keiko is lifted from his tank in and transported by C-17 directly from Newport to Vestmannaeyjar Iceland. Late September, the staff and keiko face their first winter storm. Winds of over 130 mph lash the baypen. Staff and Keiko come through unharmed. Baypen repairs continue through the winter months.

1999: During his first full year back in his native Icelandic waters, Keiko continues comprehensive physical and behavioral training to prepare him for his potential reintroduction to the wild. An essential component of his program is moving his attention from above to below the surface of the water. In doing so, Keiko depends less on his human caretakers for stimuli and develops greater interest in the surroundings of his natural environment.

2000: As the New Year progresses, Keiko must achieve significant milestones in the Ocean Futures conditioning program if he is to be successful in his natural marine habitat. They include gate training, which will provide Keiko access from the bay pen into Klettsvik Bay, and eventually into the open ocean off Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland. Other important activities Keiko must master are tone recall training, renewed live fish training, learning to be led by boat to the open ocean and performing open ocean "walks" with the Ocean Futures support vessel. Mastery of these steps will help insure that Keiko can be free, fulfilling his destiny as an animal."Born to be Wild."