Injured manatee rescued near Siesta Key. More than one life was saved
An injured manatee with fresh boat-strike wounds was saved near Siesta Key over the Mother’s Day weekend.
Unbeknownst to her rescuers, that manatee was a soon-to-be mom.
The aquatic mammal gave birth to a healthy calf on Tuesday in a rehabilitation facility at SeaWold Orlando, according to Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium.
Mote Marine stranding biologist Jess Blackburn and Sarasota Police Department Marine Patrol Officer Michael Skinner located the injured manatee on Saturday after a call came in to Mote’s hotline for stranded marine animals.
The manatee was found near Harbor Towers Yacht & Racquet Club on Siesta Key, where Blackburn observed that the animal had fresh and healed boat-strike wounds and was unable to dive properly.
“Those kinds of wounds likely caused air to be trapped in the manatee’s chest cavity, making it difficult for the animal to submerge efficiently,” Blackburn said in a press release. “Given the busy area and heavy boat traffic, we knew it would be very difficult for her to avoid any other potential boat collisions.”
Blackburn contacted the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and the agency led a joint rescue effort with help from Mote Marine, Sarasota Police Department and the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office.
The nearly 1,700-pound manatee was netted from the water into a boat and then transferred into a transport truck which drove it to SeaWorld Orlando. The zoological division of the company operates the SeaWorld Manatee Rehabilitation Center, one of five federally-permitted critical care facilities for manatees in Florida.
The mother manatee was in critical but stable condition as of Tuesday, according to Mote. A SeaWorld representative said that she will be monitored 24/7 as treatment continues. This is the 17th manatee to be treated at the SeaWorld facility this year.
All of the agencies and organizations involved in the rescue noted the importance of teamwork in giving the manatee a chance to survive through rehabilitation.
“It is our stranding network at its finest,” Mote’s stranding program manager Gretchen Lovewell said in a press release.
“We all work together on the road and on the water,” Skinner said. “We hate to see injured wildlife in our waterways but we’re hoping this team effort was enough to help give this manatee a second chance.”
“This rescue highlights the partnerships that are critical in manatee conservation efforts,” said Denise Boyd, a mammal researcher with FWC’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute.
Boyd also reminded boaters to wear polarized sunglasses and be on the look out for manatees. So far in 2020, there have been 26 recorded manatee deaths statewide due to collisions with watercraft, according to preliminary data from FWC. In 2019, watercraft collisions accounted for 25 percent of all recorded manatee deaths in Florida.
Lovewell thanked the members of the public who reported the injured manatee to Mote and encouraged others to do the same.
“Please, always remember to call us for any distressed or deceased marine mammal or sea turtle in the Sarasota and Manatee County area, and FWC throughout the rest of Florida,” Lovewell said.
The Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium Stranding Investigations Program hotline can be reached 24/7 at 941-988-0212. FWC’s Wildlife Alert line can be reached at 1-888-404-3922.