The Story Behind The Last Dive — Free Screening May 22 in Friday Harbor and Lopez Island
- FHFF
- 30 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Some films stay with you long after the credits roll. The Last Dive is one of them.
On Friday, May 22 at 7 PM, the Friday Harbor Film Festival's Best of the Fest series brings this extraordinary documentary to two simultaneous free screenings — at the San Juan Island Library in Friday Harbor and the Lopez Center for Community and the Arts on Lopez Island. And this time, the evening includes something extra: an exclusive recently recorded interview with director Cody Sheehy, conducted by FHFF Producer and Host Norris Palmer, which will play directly following the film at both venues.
About the Film
The Last Dive follows Terry Kennedy — Vietnam veteran, former Hell's Angel, liveaboard sailor, and unlikely conservationist — on one final expedition to a remote island in the Pacific. His mission: to find Willy, a 22-foot oceanic manta ray who was his closest companion for nearly two decades.
Their friendship began in the 1980s off the coast of Baja Mexico, when Willy slapped a wing against the hull of Terry's sailboat and refused to leave until Terry jumped in. From that first ride across the ocean floor, a bond formed that neither time nor distance could erase. Year after year, Willy would return — announcing himself with a bang on the hull, then carrying Terry on his back through the depths. Terry, in turn, became Willy's devoted advocate, helping secure protected marine status for the island and its manta population.
Then one day, Willy simply vanished. Terry never got to say goodbye.
Now in his eighties, Terry makes one last attempt to find him — navigating open ocean, aging joints, and the weight of a life fully lived. The Last Dive is a film about friendship, the healing power of the ocean, and the things we search for before we say goodbye. It was a 2025 FHFF Audience Choice Nominee in the "Explorers & Adventures" category, and it's easy to understand why.
About the Director
Cody Sheehy isn't just the filmmaker behind The Last Dive — he's part of the same world the film inhabits. Right now, he's anchored in the Sea of Cortez aboard his 47-foot cutter-rigged sailboat, not far from where Terry Kennedy still lives in Loreto, Baja. He got his scuba certification at Oregon State University during a winter term in the Hood Canal — snowing, near-zero visibility, and completely hooked by the end of it.
Sheehy is the founder of Rhumbline Media and has collaborated closely with acclaimed documentary producer Mark Monroe — the force behind Icarus and The Cove — on his last two films. The Last Dive drew on an extraordinary archive: Terry's own footage spanning 20 years, plus thousands of hours of additional archival material from diver Mike McGinnigan going back to the 1970s. The film's score was composed by Paul Leonard Morgan — who also scored The Last Breath — and recorded with the Budapest Orchestra at Skywalker Sound.
When Norris asked Cody what kind of audience The Last Dive is for, his answer was refreshingly direct:
"If you like watching stuff about a Hell's Angel biker, this is a great film. If you want to watch a film about manta rays, that's great too — our audience is wide."
He's right. This isn't a narrow environmental doc with a message to deliver. It's a human story that happens to unfold underwater, and it will change the way you think about manta rays forever.
Cody is also currently founding the Eagle Cap Film Festival in Joseph, Oregon, with its inaugural year planned for November 2026 — and he's developing an expedition program aboard an 80-foot offshore vessel to support manta conservation research. You can learn more and connect with him directly at thelastdivefilm.com.
FHFF thanks our presenting media sponsor, CascadePBS, and in-kind media sponsor, The Journal of the San Juan Islands, for their continued support of FHFF and the Best of the Fest Series.
Free screenings. No RSVP or tickets required.
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