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Associated Press
14 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Scientists standing by to rescue rare manatee sighted in cold New England waters
BOSTON (AP) — A manatee was recently spotted off the coast of Massachusetts for the first time in almost a decade and scientists want to monitor its condition to see if a rescue is necessary before it succumbs to the cold water or lack of food, they said Friday. The threatened species, which makes its habitat in warmer southern Gulf waters in places like Florida, was first seen July 26 off the southwestern coast of Cape Cod in the area of Nantucket Sound. Mashpee resident Jennifer Sullivan took a video of it swimming alongside paddle boarders in an inlet behind a marina surrounded by sea grass. She said on Monday that she found the manatee, which was as long and wide as her paddleboard, 'just lazing around there in the grass going as slowly as possible.' 'It was completely unfazed by us,' said Sullivan, who went on to say she felt 'just in awe of how graceful the creature was and to be so close in the wild to it.' A few days later, the animal was seen stranded on the tidal flats in Mattapoisett. Bystanders who found the manatee beached on the flats around sunrise pushed it back into the water, said Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries Protected Species Program Manager Erin Burke. It hasn't been spotted since, Burke said, but a team with the International Fund for Animal Welfare is standing by to rescue the animal if it becomes necessary. The species prefers swimming in warmer waters, usually traveling only as far north as the Carolinas. If the manatee stays in water that is too cold for too long, it could suffer severe illness or death, said New England Aquarium Research Scientist Dr. Nadine Lysiak. Additionally, manatees are herbivores that sustain themselves on extensive seagrass beds and mangroves not typically found in New England. 'Even if it doesn't experience cold stunning, it may have some health declines associated with not having enough food, not having enough water,' she said. 'So it's important to intervene as soon as it's sighted again to prevent health declines.' Lysiak said it's unclear how and why the manatee found its way so far north. It may have followed the warm water Gulf Stream current system from Florida up past the Carolinas and eventually found its way to New England, she said. 'We have kind of an average understanding of what a wild population does in terms of their range, or their habitat range, and some individuals will go beyond that and maybe wander or seek out other habitats or other food sources,' she said. 'It's hard to know exactly why this manatee came to Cape Cod.' Manatee sightings are uncommon in New England, but not unheard of. In 2008 and 2009, different manatees were sighted in Cape Cod Bay — the furthest north the animals have ever been identified. Both were eventually rescued, with one dying on the trip to Florida for rehabilitation. The other survived the trip south, living until 2018. In 2016, a manatee was spotted off the coast of Falmouth. In 2023, one of the animals was seen in Rhode Island. Anyone who sees the manatee is asked to document their GPS position and call the stranding network hotline, (508) 743-9548. Sullivan said she feels 'blessed that I could be in the right place and the right time to see the creature,' and she's hoping it's healthy and safe. 'I pray he just turned right around and went back south,' she said.
Geek Tyrant
3 hours ago
- Geek Tyrant
Alan Tudyk Says He Was Cut From I, ROBOT Marketing After Testing Better Than Will Smith in Test Screenings — GeekTyrant
Alan Tudyk just revealed a wild behind the scenes story from his time on the 2004 sci-fi blockbuster I, Robot , and it explains why so many people still don't know he was in it. Appearing on the Toon'd In with Jim Cummings podcast, Tudyk said he was dropped from the film's marketing campaign after test screenings showed he was scoring higher with audiences than the movie's leading man, Will Smith. Tudyk brought the robot Sonny to life through motion capture and voice work, but after the studio saw the test results, he claims they decided to make his involvement… vanish. 'A lot of people did not know I did Sonny the Robot in I, Robot , and there is a reason. They were doing test audiences for the movie, and they score the characters in this kind of test screening. 'I got word back: 'Alan, you are testing higher than Will Smith.' And then I was gone. I was done. There was no publicity, and my name was not mentioned.' The actor admitted the move blindsided him. 'I was so shocked. I was like, 'Wait, nobody is going to know I'm in it!' I put a lot into [that performance]. I had to move like a robot. At the time, I was very upset.' He totally has a right to be upset over that! What a crappy thing for the studio to do to an actor! I, Robot was directed by Alex Proyasand is set in 2035, it follows Smith's Chicago detective investigating the suspicious death of a robotics company founder. While society's highly intelligent robots are meant to serve humanity, Smith's character suspects one of them, Sonny, of murder. The cast also featured Bridget Moynahan, Bruce Greenwood, James Cromwell, and Chi McBride. Back in 2004, motion capture was still a relatively fresh tool in Hollywood. Aside from characters like Jar Jar Binks in Star Wars and Gollum in The Lord of the Rings , audiences hadn't seen much of it. Tudyk's work as Sonny helped push that technology forward, and he later became a fan favorite as the sarcastic droid K-2SO in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and its Disney+ prequel series Andor . It's been over 20 years since I, Robot hit theaters, but for many fans, this might be the first time they're realizing Sonny's soul came from Alan Tudyk. Turns out, the reason they didn't know… was by design. I mean, you can't have Tudyk being better than Will Smith! Sheesh. That movie would've been so much better without Smith.
Gizmodo
4 hours ago
- Gizmodo
Alan Tudyk Wasn't Part of ‘I, Robot' Publicity for a Very Surprising Reason
Alan Tudyk has made a fine career of playing otherworldly roles. Sometimes he's a robot, like in Rogue One or Superman. Other times he's an alien, like on Resident Alien, or he lends his voice to all manner of weird, wacky creatures from Moana and Encanto to Big Hero 6 and Wreck-It Ralph. Long before any of that, though, Tudyk played Sonny, the lead robot in the 2004 Will Smith hit I, Robot—but there's a good chance you didn't know that. That's because it wasn't well publicized. Speaking on the 'Toon'd In with Jim Cummings' podcast, Tudyk explained that after a test screening for the film, the audiences gave his character, Sonny, a higher score than Will Smith's character, Del. Once that happened, he mysteriously found himself no longer part of the film's massive press tour. 'A lot of people did not know I did Sonny the Robot in I, Robot, and there is a reason,' Tudyk said. 'They were doing test audiences for the movie, and they score the characters in this kind of test screening. I got word back: 'Alan, you are testing higher than Will Smith.' And then I was gone. I was done. There was no publicity, and my name was not mentioned.' 'I was so shocked,' Tudyk continued. 'I was like, 'Wait, nobody is going to know I'm in it!' I put a lot into [my performance]. I had to move like a robot. At the time, I was very upset.' And who can blame him? He's basically the second lead in that movie and working in a medium, performance capture, that was still in its early stages. This is just a few years after Jar Jar Binks in The Phantom Menace and Gollum in The Lord of the Rings. Tudyk would later become more synonymous with the technology thanks to a few of his later roles, but this is a big one for which he didn't get the credit he deserved. Smith hasn't come out to discuss Tudyk's revelations and likely won't. But there is plenty of precedent of huge stars not liking to share the spotlight, so you get the sense that happened here. You can watch the clip starting at about 17:22 below. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
