Manatee Saved from Frigid Cape Cod Waters

DENNIS, Mass. -- I misguided manatee the local town had named Dennis is heading south after being rescued from the frigid waters off Cape Cod in a rescue that occurred early this morning.

Sesuit harbor was where the 1000 lb juvenile male manatee had wandered into and stayed for several days, grazing on an abundance of local algae, so local wildlife officials made the decisions to capture and relocate him as manatees are normally found in the waters of Florida and Georgia and they can stop feeding if they get too cold.

International Fund for Animal Welfare spokesman Cris Cutter said they placed boats on each side of the manatee to hold him in position then with a net they hoisted him up onto a barge as onlookers cheered.

Nicole Adimey, a wildlife biologist and director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s manatee rescue and rehabilitation program in Jacksonville, Fla. said: "Manatees don’t do well in temperatures below 68 degrees. Their metabolism slows and they tend to stop eating, burning up their fat reserves. Sesuit Harbor was still in the mid-60s earlier this week and warming."

Officials said that caretakers will keep the manatee wet during the 20-hour drive to Sea World in Florida where a health check and rehabilitation will take place, after which he will be released back into the wild.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TV4dRVyT-Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0Mi0QOGExo

We applaud all involved in rescuing these gentle, endanger animals.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Dennis the Manatee that had just been rescued several days ago from the cold Cape Code waters has died this afternoon in Florida today as SeaWorld employees drove the mammal to a wildlife rehabilitation center.

Officials from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), based in Yarmouthport, confirmed the animal died about 3 p.m., after having endured a 27-hour trip to Orlando.

"We heard the animal had done well during transport and quietly stopped breathing this afternoon," said Katie Touhey, the emergency release manager for marine mammals, strandings and entanglements at the IFAW. "We thought the animal was going to make it, and when we heard it didn't, it was tough."

Touhey said a necropsy, an autopsy for an animal, will be preformed soon to determine the cause of death.

The loss stunned animal lovers and experts.

"I can't help but feel sad when an animal dies after so much effort trying to save him," Touhey said. "Nature does what it is going to do, and that's just part of reality."

Chris Cutter of the International Fund for Animal Welfare said the animal's body temperature was about 73 degrees, instead of the normal 97.5 degrees, when it was pulled out of the water. Rescuers struggled to raise its temperature to about 90 degrees, were giving it fluid intravenously and its condition had stabilized during the ride to Florida, Cutter said.