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waters.
    Dr. Cornell had formerly been SeaWorld’s head veterinarian in the 1970s and ‘80s;
     the only individual early in the project with any killer whale zoological experience
     worth noting. Lanny, however, was a veterinarian. While trained and studied in marine
     mammal medicine, he knew very little about shaping behavior. It was a classic case
     of Maslow’s hammer: “If all you have is a hammer, then everything is a nail.” Our
     experiences with Lanny in the past attested to his approach: behavior was treated
     with drugs, not conditioning, and behavioral science was fool’s play. In fact, the
     project’s staff at that time referred to much of Lanny’s direction as “voodoo science.”
    To say Lanny is well known for his loathing of animal trainers would be an understatement.
     In his previous career at the helm of SeaWorld veterinary care, he was also known
     as a bit of a bully. Sadly, there had been no shortage of stories recounting his notorious
     intimidation tactics.
    This sordid history left no question in our minds that Dr. Cornell had played an enormous
     part in dismissing behavior as having any relevance in Keiko’s rehabilitation. Early
     on, we often pondered the apparent discrepancy,
Why then had Lanny been the very person to invite Robin’s involvement?
More than a decade had passed since the two had worked together. It’s most likely
     that Lanny was oblivious of Robin’s professional evolution, which had brought about
     a very different attitude on the subject of behavioral science. In fact, Robin had
     come to consider behavior a critical foundation in the care of marine mammals, most
     especially one such as Keiko.
    Even so, despite the heavy focus on behavior at the heart of our proposal, something
     about our outlined reintroduction plan provided an opening. As a result, and to our
     surprise, Robin was requested to return to Iceland in March, this time for a thirty-five-day
     tour. On this visit he would become actively involved in privileged day-to-day operations,
     notwithstanding the lack of any formal engagement. We had multiple exchanges during
     his first two weeks back, mostly concerning Keiko, Robin’s observations,changes he made to daily interactions and his overall assessment of the operation.
    Although Robin didn’t specialize in behavioral science, he was adept at evaluating
     and recognizing effective and ineffective applications and describing the need for
     behavioral modification. Over the course of his second tour in Iceland, he was able,
     through example and education, to convince the decision makers that additional behavioral
     skill sets were desperately needed. By April, I received an itinerary for my first
     tour to Iceland. Robin had convinced OFS to fly Dave and me to the Vestmannaeyjar
     project site. Due to other demands on our schedule, I was to go first, and Dave would
     join us a week later.

    Map of Vestmannaeyjar showing the location of Keiko’s bay pen
.

2

Meeting Keiko and the Release Team
    I once read that to truly experience Iceland, all one needed to do was to sit inside
     a walk-in freezer with coffee and a newspaper while burning a one hundred dollar bill.
     There is much more to Iceland than this spiteful commentary lends, though it is not
     entirely without justification.
    Arriving into Iceland by commercial jet requires little effort to imagine what astronauts
     must witness on a lunar landing. The Keflavik International Airport is about an hour’s
     drive southwest of the capital city of Reykjavik (ray-ka-vik). Flights originating
     from the United States arrive in the early morning, just as the sun crests the horizon.
     Coming in on final approach, there is nothing but volcanic rock as far as the eye
     can see. There are no trees, not many buildings to speak of and no color, not even
     the white of snow.
    Keflavik is surrounded by pulverized black volcanic rock, slightly larger than gravel.
     Like many parts of Iceland, the area is