Latest news with #Willy
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Manta man: film profiles unlikely bond between diver and giant sea creature
Located about 500km off the southern coast of Baja California lies a group of ancient volcanic islands known as the Revillagigedo Archipelago. Home to large pelagic species including whale sharks and scalloped hammerheads, the rugged volcanic peaks were also once the site of an unlikely friendship. It began in December 1988 when Terry Kennedy, a now 83-year-old American sailor with a storied past, met a six-meter-wide giant Pacific manta ray off San Benedicto island's rugged shore. He would go on to name him Willy. 'When I saw him beside the boat, as massive as he was, I just had to get in the water just to see him,' says Kennedy. 'I threw a tank on and jumped over, but I didn't see him anywhere. He couldn't have vanished that quick. And then I looked straight down and he was coming up underneath me. He was about four feet away and rising so I had no way to get off his back.' Together, on that day and over the next decades, the two rode through the water, with Willy taking Kennedy around the underwater volcanic peaks and as far as two miles, only to always return Kennedy to his boat. Now, 37-years on, their unlikely friendship will be explored in a new documentary called The Last Dive, released on Sunday ahead a series of limited screenings in the US and New Zealand. In it, Kennedy embarks on a final journey to the island in the hope of reuniting with the ray. With its focus on a relationship between man and beast, it will undoubtedly draw parallels to Netflix's 2020 documentary The Octopus Teacher, which told the moving story of how Craig Foster came to know an octopus. Film-maker Cody Sheehy hopes that showing the film will 'inspire a whole new generation' to fall in love with the ocean. 'For me, it's personal,' he says. 'I live with my wife and two-year-old son on a sailboat. Every night, I drift off to sleep with the sound of the ocean slapping our hull. Over the last 20-plus years, I have watched life in the ocean disappear.' When Kennedy and Willy met, very few divers understood the harmful impacts that could come with touching a wild animal – a practice that has been banned globally across federally protected marine areas and dive sites. Harmful impacts from physical touch include significant stress and behavioral changes across mantas. Yet, at the time, Willy, with his four distinctive black dots in the shape of a diamond on his right shoulder, and Kennedy, formed an inexplicable bond of trust and respect that Kennedy documented with his video camera. Coming up to Kennedy's boat and slapping his fin against the hull, Willy would wait for Kennedy to climb on his back before taking off for a ride around the island. On multiple occasions, Willy helped Kennedy locate abandoned nets. 'He drove me crazy one day trying to get my attention,' says Kennedy. 'Finally, I moved off from the other two divers, got on his back, and he took me off and we run on down. Next thing I knew, I see the bottom coming up, and there's this giant net, far bigger than anything I've ever seen before. 'I realized early on, he took me to the full perimeter of the net. He was purposely showing me what was there, how big it was,' Kennedy says. He went on to contact the Mexican navy and in two days, Kennedy, alongside a large gunship and navy divers, pulled up 17,050 meters of net. Another time, Willy positioned himself between Kennedy and a great hammerhead shark during one of Kennedy's dives. 'He turned around and came up in front of me and was kind of dogging me, back and forth. I thought he wanted to go for a ride but I'd break to the right, he'd break to the right. I couldn't understand what was going on with him. Finally I did a jig and jog and I looked around and there was an 18ft great hammer,' Kennedy says in The Last Dive. 'I thought to myself, 'Whoa. Willy protected me,'' he adds. With the largest brain-to-body-mass ratio compared with other fish, mantas are highly intelligent creatures. As curious filter feeders, mantas can recognize themselves in a mirror, demonstrating a rare sign of self-awareness comparable only to a few animals including primates, elephants and dolphins. Yet these docile creatures are listed as threatened under the US Endangered Species Act, with thousands being targeted and killed each year for the trade in their delicate feeding gills or merely caught as bycatch across legal and illegal fisheries. Kennedy's friendship with Willy changed not only his approach to wildlife underwater but also pushed Kennedy, then a big game fish hunter, into his unlikely role of conservationist. In 1994, Kennedy captured on camera the slaughter of multiple mantas on Valentine's Day at San Benedicto island – including ones that swam with Kennedy the day before. After the incident, which prompted international outcry, Kennedy became a vocal proponent of federal fishing regulations, successfully pushing the Mexican government to declare Revillagigedo Archipelago a nationally protected marine reserve. 'What happened out in San Benedicto, I just pretty much said, 'That's enough for me.' I'd rather shoot them with a camera and from that day forward, I got along with the big fish that would actually come close to me. I don't know what it is when they no longer felt any fear of me,' he says. Kennedy's relationship with the ocean has evolved over the years. The self-confessed 'troubled kid' growing up in California started diving at 12 years old – his first dive being a 200ft dive on his own. He served in the US navy in Vietnam and later was a Hells Angel biker, a bar owner and a wild sailor living onboard his boat – once named Erotica – on the Pacific. But as his relationship with the rays deepened, he found he was his truest self under the water. For Kennedy, who has done more than 14,000 dives: 'My world starts when I go below the surface.' Since meeting Willy, that world has become one he and his ocean collaborators are dedicated to preserving. Amid a global decline in mantas and rise in poorly regulated dive boats leaving them frequently injured and their fragile ecosystems disturbed, the need to protect mantas is more urgent than ever. 'There are so many dive boats out there that if we don't dive responsibly with them, it might affect how they [the rays] feed underwater,' says Sheehy. Sheehy, who dived with Kennedy in the archipelago, also points to boat traffic, saying: 'The mantas want to come up to the top, they're hard to see and they're getting hit by boats. And I think that is the real pressure that tourism is bringing that we need to talk about.' The urgency for increased marine regulations also comes as Donald Trump's administration sets a dangerous example to other countries to disregard environmental protections. The US's latest environmental rollbacks from commercial fishing proclamations to delisting certain animals as endangered species threaten the overall wellbeing of marine wildlife. Though rare, the bond between Kennedy and Willy offers a profound glimpse at a shared bond that is possible when such creatures are given the chance to live and thrive. 'Willy showed me what needed to be done, and I've just done it,' Kennedy says.
New Indian Express
6 days ago
- Business
- New Indian Express
Keralite at helm, world's largest container vessel all set for Vizhinjam date
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The world's largest container ship, MSC Irina, is set to make its maiden call at the Vizhinjam port, with Captain Willy Antony, a native of Thrissur, at the helm. The vessel has reached the outer anchorage, drawing excitement from the public as it is the first time the ship is calling at a port in South India. Captain Willy, 47, hailing from Puranattukara, is thrilled to bring the mammoth vessel equivalent in length to four football fields and capable of carrying cargo stacked as high as a 22-storey building — to his home state. 'It's a proud moment for me to command a ship of this scale,' said Captain Willy. 'This vessel and Vizhinjam are both dear to me. Bringing the ship to my own land doubles the joy,' he said. However, the vessel which has a capacity of 24,346 TEUs (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units) will have to wait for its turn to berth at the busy port as there are seven vessels already lined up for docking. Originally scheduled to dock on June 5, berthing may be delayed to June 7 or 8, said port sources. Given its enormous size, the vessel owned by Mediterranean Shipping Company and flying the Liberian flag will require four tugs to assist in mooring, compared to the usual two. An estimated 4,000 containers will be handled during its stay at Vizhinjam. A seasoned mariner with 29 years of experience and visits to 120 countries under his belt, Captain Willy Antony has been commanding MSC Irina since its commissioning in March 2023. The vessel's voyage included stops in Singapore, China, and South Korea before returning to Singapore. His wife, Hilda, and son, Benhail, accompanied him on the initial leg of the journey and disembarked in Singapore. 'Berthing is going to be challenging considering the monsoon condition. But the port has experienced people, including two of my former colleagues, to handle it,' he said. 'Vizhinjam has a georgaphical advantage for its natural depth,' Willy said. Despite the excitement of nearing home, Captain Willy expressed disappointment that he and his crew will not be able to step ashore.
Straits Times
02-06-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
DBS and POSB users report not being able to log on to digital banking services
Over 1,735 reports in total were recorded for DBS and POSB services as at 3.40pm. PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM DBS APP DBS, POSB users report not being able to log in to digital banking services SINGAPORE – Some DBS and POSB customers could not log in to the banks' digital banking services for over two hours on June 2 afternoon. From around 2pm, users began reporting the disruption to both the app and website on Downdetector, a website that tracks service disruptions. More than 1,735 reports in total were recorded for DBS and POSB services as at 3.40pm. Several users also took to social media to highlight the disruption. In a comment on the latest post on DBS' official Facebook page, dated May 30, one user wrote on June 2: 'Sorry DBS my DBS application cannot be accessed, what is the problem now?' Another Facebook user, who identified himself only as Willy, told The Straits Times that he could not log in from 2.50pm. 'I needed to make an urgent payment. So I used another bank to pay,' he said. In a Facebook update at 4.38pm, DBS said access to the DBS/POSB app 'has returned to normal as at 4.08pm'. 'We appreciate our customers' patience and are sorry for the inconvenience caused,' the bank said. The bank previously faced a disruption of more than 12 hours on Oct 14, 2023, which affected its online and mobile services and physical card transactions. It led the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to impose a six-month restriction on DBS' non-essential banking activities. The restriction, implemented on Nov 1, 2023, was not extended beyond April 30, 2024. Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
Daily Record
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
EastEnders' most iconic pets and their tragic ends after axe from BBC soap
As fans remember more than four decades of drama in Albert Square, much has been written about the original 1985 cast - including two non-human stars who played pivotal roles As fans of EastEnders reminisce over four decades of drama in Albert Square, much attention has been given to the original 1985 cast - a group of actors who helped establish what would become one of Britain's most iconic TV shows. The original human stars - many of whom are no longer part of the soap - grounded the programme's gritty, working-class realism, often exploring intricate family struggles and social tensions. However, amidst the soap's intricate web of secrets, betrayals and family feuds, two non-human stars played crucial roles in the earliest episodes: Roly the poodle and Willy the pug, reports Surrey Live. Here's everything you need to know about the iconic EastEnders dogs: Roly Roly was never intended to be in the show. Producers initially sought a German Shepherd named Prince, but when they couldn't find one that blended well with the set's lighting, a seven-month-old standard poodle stepped in. Roly became the cherished pet of Den and Angie Watts, and from the very first episode in 1985, he was a familiar face (or tail?) running around the Queen Vic. While Den and Angie often neglected their daughter Sharon, they confided in Roly. Nonetheless, the poodle was more than just a background prop - he got involved in key storylines, and even saved lives. In 1987, Roly was the first to discover Pat Wicks after she was attacked by the so-called Walford Ripper. A year later, he barked incessantly until someone discovered Eddie Royle after he'd been stabbed and left for dead. Perhaps Roly's most iconic moment came in the show's earliest mystery - the identity of teenage Michelle Fowler's baby's father. After months of secrecy, Michelle arranged to meet the unknown man at a canal for privacy. But as she approached the car, out bounded Roly, revealing that the father was none other than Den Watts - her best mate Sharon's adoptive dad. Roly remained on the show until 1993, when his character was killed off after being run over while chasing a cat. In real life, the dog belonged to EastEnders co-creator Julia Smith, and tragically died in 1995 following surgery to treat breathing problems brought on by a heatwave. He had been retired for two years before his death. Willy Willy, the mischievous pug owned by Ethel Skinner, was cast just a week before filming began - like Roly - and quickly became one of the show's most recognisable animal faces. Originally called Phillip in early scripts, Willy was spoiled, greedy, and frequently got himself into trouble. He once nicked the Fowler family's Christmas turkey and had a habit of ruining pavements, much to the despair of Dr. Legg. Still, Ethel adored him - her love for Willy was so fierce that she turned down two marriage proposals from men who demanded she choose between them and her dog. In one plot twist, Willy ran away and was sold to a new owner by a pet shop who renamed him Rasputin. It was only due to Lou Beale's efforts that Willy was eventually returned to Ethel. Willy stayed in the series until 1992, when his character was put down due to old age. In a twist of fate, the real dog passed away just two weeks later. Before his time in EastEnders, Willy had already made a name for himself, playing William the pug in the 1984 BBC adaptation of Swallows and Amazons Forever! based on the cherished books by Arthur Ransome.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Yahoo
Puppy survives one of the ‘most graphic' animal abuse cases Friendship APL has seen
ELYRIA, Ohio (WJW) — Humane officers call it one of the most brutal cases of animal abuse. A local dog survived a brutal stabbing by its owner. According to Greg Willy, executive director of the Friendship Animal Protective League, the shelter got a call Saturday about a dog that was brought into the Northview Animal Clinic in North Ridgeville. Keeping Browns downtown not Cleveland mayor's top priority, I-Team learns 'I honestly could not believe this dog was still alive. It is one of the most graphic cases where an animal survived an attack,' Willy said. Willy said the owner had allegedly inflicted the wounds on the dog, an 8-month-old pitbull named Ivy. The owner then, later, brought the dog to the clinic to get checked out. 'The dog supposedly had an accident on the floor. This was his punishment for the dog,' Willy said. According to the report, Ivy had facial lacerations that extended from her ear to her jaw, her face was sliced open. Part of her ear was also missing. Sleep training for teens becomes local high school class The APL's humane team immediately presented the evidence to the Perkins Township Police, who subsequently arrested the suspect, Terry Thomas of Sandusky, on felony charges of animal cruelty Monday morning. Meanwhile, Ivy has had extensive surgery and has a long road to recovery. *Editor's note: The photos on the following linked Facebook page are graphic and could be disturbing to some viewers. If you would like to donate to support Ivy's recovery, click here Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
