Sick manatee rescued in the Florida Keys, and now it’s headed to SeaWorld in Orlando
Marine mammal rescuers in the Florida Keys removed a sick and underweight manatee from a canal Wednesday afternoon.
A veterinarian who works for the Dolphin Research Center, one of the organizations that rescued the manatee, said other than being underweight, the nine-foot long male mammal had a cloudy right eye.
During the rescue from the canal in the Middle Keys city of Marathon, the team surrounded the manatee with a long net and pulled him to land, said Mary Stella, director of media and marketing for the Dolphin Research Center in Grassy Key.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and workers from Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters also were on the rescue team, Stella said.
FWC biologists decided that the manatee should be taken to SeaWorld in Orlando for further assessment and treatment, according to Stella.
This story was originally published July 7, 2022 at 4:40 PM with the headline "Sick manatee rescued in the Florida Keys, and now it’s headed to SeaWorld in Orlando."
