[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 116 (Thursday, August 1, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9422-S9423]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         OREGON COAST AQUARIUM

  Mr. HATFIELD. Mr. President, for 30 years I have had the pleasure of 
representing a State known for its emphasis on educating its citizens 
on the importance of understanding and preserving their surrounding 
environment. The Oregon Coast Aquarium serves as a wonderful example of 
this unique spirit of conservation.
  Visitors at the Oregon Coast Aquarium are able to experience the 
indigenous coastal habitat and view many examples of marine creatures 
and plant life. However, the aquarium is much more than a collection of 
exhibits, it is an education center. The theme chases a raindrop from 
the moment it drops from the sky and hits the Coast Range, until it 
reaches its final destination, the Pacific Ocean. By following this 
path through numerous interactive exhibits, theaters, and touch pools, 
children and adults alike are able to learn about the native Oregon 
coastal environment and its important function.
  Located just south of Newport along the scenic Oregon coastline, the 
Oregon Coast Aquarium has recently become the rehabilitation center for 
the 16-year-old orca whale Keiko, known for his role in the movie 
``Free Willy.'' The aquarium was selected by the Earth Island 
Institute, whose job it was to find a suitable new home for the 21-
foot-long and 7,000-pound killer whale, as the only facility in the 
country that satisfied the necessary criteria. Keiko was transported, 
via a UPS B-130 cargo jet, to the aquarium from an amusement park in 
Mexico, where his health had been rapidly deteriorating. Since his 
arrival in January, Keiko has steadily improved and is moving ever 
closer to the goal of his eventual release.
  I am honored today to recognize the Oregon Coast Aquarium and welcome 
the most recent addition to our coastal waters.
  On Sunday, July 28, 1996, the New York Times published a full page 
article on Keiko and the Oregon Coast Aquarium.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a copy of this article be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                [From the New York Times, July 28, 1996]

                      Willy Not Free, but Mending

                          (By Donald S. Olson)

       On Jan. 7 of this year thousands of people lined Highway 
     101 south of Newport, Ore., to welcome a 7,720-pound, 21-
     foot-long celebrity from Mexico City. Keiko, the 16-year-old 
     orca whale who starred in the movie ``Free Willy,'' arrived 
     by U.P.S. B-130 cargo jet. He was loaded onto a flatbed truck 
     and hauled past cheering crowds to his new home, the Oregon 
     Coast Aquarium. Several aquariums wanted Keiko, but the 
     Oregon Coast was chosen because it was the only one with the 
     space to build a pool large enough to rehabilitate him for 
     possible release into the wild--the first such attempt ever 
     made with a captive orca.
       Since it opened in 1992, the magnificent 37-acre facility, 
     about two and a half hours southwest of Portland, has drawn 
     me back to Newport and the coastal region around Yequina Bay 
     several times. Situated on the bay's south side, adjacent to 
     an estuary teeming with wildlife, the aquarium is designed in 
     the vernacular of seaside buildings such as boat sheds, with 
     imaginative interior detail. The pillars, for instance, are 
     cast with sandy reliefs of marine life, and the doorhandles 
     are octopus tentacles and heron heads cast in bronze.
       A sculptured school of 150 thrashing coho salmon hanging in 
     the front entry hall leads to the first exhibit, where a 
     short video introduces the concept behind the aquarium. 
     Following the course of a raindrop that falls in the Coast 
     Range, trickles down streams, flows into rivers, washes 
     through wetlands and finally reaches the sea, the galleries, 
     arranged in a circular pattern, present a cross-section of 
     various coastal habitats linked by water into one vast inter-
     connected marine ecosystem.

[[Page S9423]]

       The first gallery focuses on Oregon's sandy beaches, which 
     support crabs, shrimps, sea stars, sea pens and sand dollars. 
     The flatfish, whose camouflage abilities are highlighted in a 
     special tank, is one of the stranger creatures on view. As it 
     grows it changes color, its eyes migrate toward one another, 
     and it begins to swim sideways. A central floor-to-ceiling 
     walk-around tank recreates the pier-and-pilings environment 
     found along Newport's Bay Front. Leopard sharks, smelt and 
     tubesnouts glide in and out among the piers, barnacles and 
     anemones attach themselves to pilings.
       A favorite spot for children (and many adults) is the Touch 
     Pool in the next gallery, called Rocky Shores. Here, under 
     the genial tutelage of aquarium volunteers, visitors can 
     gently stroke starfish and chitons. Smaller tanks contain 
     oddities like the grunt sculpin, which crawls or leaps across 
     rocks with broad, fingerlike fins, the pea sized spiny 
     lumpsucker and the decorated war bonnet. An array of delicate 
     anemones wave their pulpy pink, white and purple tentacles in 
     other tanks.
       Visitors often gasp in surprise when they enter the Coastal 
     Waters Gallery and see the central moon jellies exhibit. The 
     glass of the oval-shaped tank magnifies these pink, brainless 
     beauties as they gracefully palpitate up toward the top and 
     drift down again. Sea nettles, another jellyfish species, 
     look like aquatic, caramel-colored Art Nouveau lampshades, 
     and the fragile bell jellies resemble tiny transparent light 
     bulbs. For sheer creepiness, on the other hand, nothing 
     compares with the hagfish, coiled like a pale, bloated 
     sausage in its own tank. This repulsive creature covers dead 
     fish with a glaze of slime, swims inside, and proceeds to eat 
     its way out again. A close runner-up in the ugly department 
     is the huge, primitive-looking wolf-eel, which uses its 
     mouthful of buck teeth to crush shellfish.
       The circular route of the galleries brings the visitor to 
     the long covered portico near the entrance, beyond which are 
     the outdoor exhibits--four acres of specially constructed 
     caves, cliffs and pools that distinguish this aquarium.
       Both aboveground and through underwater viewing windows 
     visitors can watch sea lions, seals, sea otters, octopuses 
     and sea-birds. The otters, rescued as infants from the Exxon 
     Valdez oil spill in Alaska, are the only animals not 
     indigenous to Oregon. They look cuddly and playful, but 
     they're very territorial and aggressive. Cody, the 80-pound 
     male, has smashed the protective glass window on more than 
     one occasion.
       Keiko, of course, is now the star attraction, housed in his 
     own state-of-the-art pool, 150 feet long, 75 feet wide and 25 
     feet deep. Although Keiko did not come to the aquarium to 
     perform, his trainers have devised a series of brain games 
     and high-energy remedial workouts--including breaches, barrel 
     rolls, bows and high-speed swims--to improve his physical 
     abilities and keep him mentally challenged. To the delight of 
     visitors, he also spends a great deal of time at the 
     underwater viewing windows, watching the people watch him.
       The Free Willy-Keiko Foundation, which now owns the animal, 
     will make the final decision regarding his release. After 
     Life magazine brought Keiko's plight to the public's 
     attention in 1993 and children around the world bombarded the 
     Warner Brothers Studio with letters demanding to know why 
     ``Free Willy'' was ailing and still in captivity the studio 
     hired Earth Island Institute, an environmental advocacy group 
     headquartered in San Francisco, to find a facility where the 
     whale--then a ton underweight, with a collapsed doral fin and 
     skin lesions--could be rehabilitated.
       The institute set up the Free Willy-Keiko Foundation, and 
     Warner Brothers donated $2 million of the $7.3 million needed 
     to complete his new pool. The rest of the money, for 
     relocation, veterinary care and  operating expenses (such as 
     the 120,000 pounds of fresh-frozen fish Keiko will eat 
     every year), has come from private donations. The goal of 
     the foundation and the Oregon Coast Aquarium is to make 
     Keiko well enough to so that he can eventually be returned 
     to his family pod. Already there are signs that his health 
     is steadily improving, his veterinarian and others at the 
     aquarium say. He is eating nearly twice as much as he did 
     in Mexico City, and because of the change in water 
     chemistry--he now swims in cold fresh seawater instead of 
     warm chlorinated water--he's shed a layer of skin, 
     including patches of lesions near his tail flukes and 
     pectoral flippers.
       Dr. Lanny Cornell, his veterinarian, recently stressed, 
     however, that while the initial news is good, ``it's a very 
     short time to make long-term predictions about his eventual 
     recovery.''
       Other factors beside Keiko's health must also be taken into 
     consideration before he can be considered ready for life in 
     the wild. For one thing, each orca pod communicates with its 
     own ``dialect'' based on geographic location. Keiko can't be 
     released into the Pacific because he wouldn't be able to 
     communicate with the West Coast orcas. Willy had been 
     captured off the coast of Iceland; marine biologists must 
     find his original pod, and it's possible that they may no 
     longer be alive. In the meantime, from underwater viewing 
     windows, visitors now have a chance to see an orca explore an 
     environment that recreates a portion of his natural habitat.
       Since Keiko's arrival, Newport, a small coastal town on the 
     north side of Yaquina Bay, has experienced a major tourist 
     boom.
       From the aquarium it takes about five minutes to reach the 
     town via the Yaquina Bay Bridge, build in 1932 to 1936 as a 
     W.P.A. project.
       South Jetty, the oldest on the West Coast, extends far out 
     into the Pacific, protecting the entrance into the bay. The 
     section of Newport that stretches along Highway 101 is little 
     more than an anonymous-looking strip mall, but a couple of 
     areas still preserve remnants of the old fishing community's 
     crusty past.
       Nye Beach, a neighborhood that fronts on the Pacific Ocean 
     just west of Highway 101, is full of the weathered, 
     unpretentious cottages and beach shacks that until recently 
     characterized Newport and most Oregon coastal towns.
       The Sylvia Beach Hotel, a former boardinghouse that is now 
     a cozy hotel, is perched above the broad, white-sand beach.
       From Highway 101, the road curves down past a Coast Guard 
     station to Bay Boulevard, the main street where Newport's 
     beleaguered fishing industry is still headquartered. The Bay 
     Front, with its assortment of seafood restaurants, is a good 
     place to sample fresh local fish, oysters, shrimp, mussels, 
     crabs, geoducks (pronounced gooey-ducks) and clams. White 
     clam chowder, thick as pudding, is a staple in these parts. 
     More seafood to go can be found, uncooked, at the indoor 
     counters of the bayside canneries and fish-processing plants. 
     In seconds they can clean, crack and package a whole 
     Dungeness crab, one of the sweetest-tasting crustaceans in 
     existence. The Bay Front is the liveliest spot in Newport.
       In addition to local craft, antiques, gift and candy shops, 
     there's Mariner Square, with a child-pleasing Ripley's 
     Believe It or Not. Dozens of colorful trawlers still dock at 
     Newport's marina, chugging out to fish for cod, flounder, 
     tuna, shrimp and oysters. But the recent, federally imposed 
     quotas on salmon and halibut has slowed the town's charter-
     boat business.
       Strolling along the narrow bayside sidewalks, visitors are 
     often surprised to hear the grunting gutteral barks of nearby 
     sea lions. There are so many male sea lions in Yaquina Bay 
     that residents call it the Bachelor Club. The females stay in 
     the sea with their young, but the hulking males like to 
     congregate on waterside docks.
       The stretch of Highway 101 from Newport to Lincoln City, 22 
     miles north, is filled with a spectacular array of the 
     saltwater habitats recreated at the aquarium. One of the best 
     areas for viewing coastal wildlife is Yaquina Head, on the 
     northern outskirts of Newport. Here, in the water and on the 
     rocks below Oregon's oldest lighthouse, a gleaming white 
     tower activated in 1873, a raucous assortment of harbor 
     seals, sea lions, cormorants, murres, puffins and guilemots 
     make their home.
       This is also a good spot for whale watching in the wild. If 
     the spring and early summer more than 18,000 gray whales pass 
     by on their seasonal migration from Alaska to Baja 
     California.
       Once or twice a year orca whales, such as Keiko, also make 
     their way into Yaquina Bay. After gulping down whatever fish 
     is available--and often a sea lion or two they swim back to 
     the open sea. They bay itself is a thriving oceanic 
     ecocenter.
       Not only does it support 200 species of birds, but it is so 
     clean that every day at high tide the Oregon Coast Aquarium 
     pumps two million gallons of water directly from the bay into 
     their tanks and another two million into Keiko's pool.

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