Valentines Day is a special day to remember the ones you love and, in addition to dinner and chocolates, also rescue a manatee? Two days ago this touching scenario played out as exactly that: Valentines Day manatee rescue and the subject was fittingly to be named “Cupid”. While there is no guarantee of this manatee’s survival, rescuers did their utmost to move quickly and give him a chance.
Three Sisters Springs in Crystal River, Florida is a natural, warm sanctuary for manatees in the wintertime. Manatees nurse their calves, socialize and most importantly rest in the warm spring-fed waters. Occasionally, there will be manatees with issues relating to poor health. This is what two Manatee Watch volunteers and I observed on Wednesday, February 6th.
Manatee rescue is all about observation. Anyone going to see manatees at the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge can and would be encouraged to report anything they feel is unusual regarding a manatee. Manatee Watch volunteers are usually right there to talk with and also the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge office and personnel are very eager to hear of any problems or anything unusual about particular manatees.
Here’s an example along with photographs of a way to go about reporting something that doesn’t seem right with a manatee at Crystal River. Also, there is always the state-wide Florida Fish and Wildlife Manatee Hotline which is the primary source for reporting distressed manatees statewide; available 24 hours a day at 888-404-FWCC (3922).
Since long-time Manatee Watch volunteers Bud and John were right there we discussed this thin manatee while I was there photographing. I took images of it underwater and the volunteers alerted the Refuge about the very thin and lethargic manatee. Ivan Vicente, Visitor Services at the Refuge, arrived later but the manatee had drifted off to an unknown area. He asked me questions about the thin manatee and asked me to email him photographs as soon as I got home so they could address it first thing in the morning.
Here is the email I sent with photos:
From: Carol Grant <carol@oceangrant.com>
Subject: Very Thin Manatee 3SS 1st spring 6 Feb 13 3pm
Date: February 7, 2013 12:04:38 AM EST
To: Ivan Vicente <ivan_vicente@fws.gov>
Ivan, OK, it's midnight - I'm beat! Here are four pics I quickly grabbed. The manatee is small and didn't really stretch out so I couldn't tell you: 6 ft or ? I think it was a male but I could be wrong because the bumps and folds obscure a lot. I hope you find it. I did not see it socialize with any other manatee at all and it did not move much.
See you soon. Nice to see you in the water again ;-) Carol
The photographs don’t have to be perfect at all. They just need to show the tail well and any physical abnormalities evident. His tail margin shows clear signs of cold stress and photos of the tail and back can also be used to ID a manatee sometimes. I also tried to show the differences in size between the thin manatee and others around.
I saw this manatee two more times over the next week, but each time I reported it the manatee had relocated somewhere unknown. So when Capt. Stacy Dunn and I arrived at Three Sisters Springs the following week, on Valentines Day Feb 14th, Stacy immediately began taking photographs of the very thin manatee. For my part, I watched the manatee until rescuers got in the water. I wasn’t going to let it go unseen again!
Here are some of Stacy’s photographs she took from her kayak, holding her camera underwater:
Photos Courtesy Stacy Dunn ©
Within a week this manatee had become thinner and grew more algae. Stacy called Ivan Vicente at the Refuge and he quickly arrived. I was impressed how quickly other USFWS (United States Fish and Wildlife Services) personnel arrived along with other Manatee Rescue affiliates and volunteers. As soon as it was determined Lowry Park Zoo would accept the manatee, a rescue was underway. This was all smoothly organized on land while I intently watched in the water to make sure our target did not move out of sight.
I have put together a short GoPro Video to show some of the rescue from my perspective. Of course you will notice the constant rain and there wasn’t much light, but I feel it helps tell the rescue story. Here’s a link to the video in another post:
Video is also on Vimeo Here
To close here are a few more photographs from Stacy Dunn:
The thin manatee now rescued and being checked out by a USFWS officer.
And that’s me just out of the water and in the rain watching Cupid being taken off to Lowry Park Zoo’s manatee rehabilitation facility.
I hope this gives those interested an insight into the rescue of a beloved and protected marine mammal. See, anyone can lend a helping observation and really make a difference. Manatee lovers should realize and develop empathy for the fact that the very cold fronts that bring manatees in numbers to the warm springs for us to see, put a number of manatees in peril every season from health problems made worse by cold-related stresses.
Best, Carol
