‘He’ll be missed.’ Hugh the manatee dead at 38, Sarasota’s Mote Marine Aquarium says
Sarasota’s Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium announced that one of its beloved manatees, Hugh, died Saturday at age 38.
Hugh was born at Miami’s Seaquarium and came to Mote Marine, located on City Island near Longboat Key and St. Armand’s Circle, in 1996 from ZooTampa.
After showing a behavior change Saturday, animal care staff at Mote monitored him before he became unresponsive in his habitat late Saturday afternoon, Mote said in a Facebook post.
Animal care staff responded, but determined Hugh had died. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Marine Mammal Pathobiology Laboratory Institute is conducting a necropsy, also known as an animal autopsy, to determine Hugh’s cause of death, Mote Marine said in the social media post.
The process takes eight or more weeks, Mote said.
Hugh was a manatee ambassador along with his brother Buffett, where they were the world’s only manatees to participate in voluntary, detailed behavioral research designed to aid manatee conservation, Mote wrote.
“Hugh’s indelible and lasting legacy will be one of an invaluable contribution to the scientific understanding of manatee behavior and contributions to the conservation of his species,” Mote Marine’s Facebook post read. “Our team is forever grateful for the time we had with Hugh and his contribution to manatee conservation, and we are proud of our staff and volunteers for the level of care we provide to all the animals at Mote Aquarium.”
Social media reacts to manatee death
As of Monday afternoon, the post had more than 4,000 reactions, 650 comments and 950 shares on Facebook.
“He’ll be missed,” wrote Tara Whitcomb on the post. “I loved working with him and Buffett and was always impressed during training time. As a former MMPL employee, I know they’ll do their best to understand what Hugh passed away from. Sending the Mote manatee care and training team lots of love during these hard times. I’ve been in your position and understand it’s a hard time for everyone.”
Added Matt Seguin: “Hugh, you were such a great ambassador for your species. I was always impressed with how much research you were trained to participate in. Truly an amazing animal.”
“I was a volunteer at Mote’s dolphin and whale hospital,” Jean Dawson wrote on Mote’s Facebook post. “We used to sleep over at night and check on the mammals in the middle of night. I remember one night hearing this very strange sound almost like a pig coming from the turtle and manatee section. At 3:00 a.m. It scared the heck out of me thinking it was some wild animal that got in there. I looked all over and couldn’t figure out what it was and then I saw a speaker on the ceiling by (Hugh) and Buffett’s enclosure. After further investigation, I saw a hydrophone which is basically an underwater microphone. That strange noise was coming from the manatees. I never knew that they made those kind of sounds. Needless to say, I was pretty relieved and in awe of their underwater chatter. RIP Hugh.”
Hugh’s death comes less than six years after the world’s oldest manatee in captivity, Snooty, died from drowning at the South Florida Museum, which is now known as the Bishop Museum of Science and Nature, in Bradenton.
Snooty’s death shortly after celebrating his 69th birthday saw an outpouring of support and condolences from the public in the form of cards, flowers and other items in a memorial tribute to him.
This story was originally published May 1, 2023 at 2:55 PM.
