KEY LARGO, Fla. – A big rescue effort was underway early Thursday to help an injured manatee in a Key Largo canal.
Researchers with the Dolphin Research Center and biologists with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission received reports about the sea cow seen with fishing line tied tightly around a flipper in a canal earlier this week.
“This was a juvenile manatee. She did have a right flipper entanglement,” said Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission biologist Amber Howell. “There were actually bones sticking out from that pressure of the monofilament.”
By 9 a.m., FWC officers arrived by boat, and biologists and other volunteers came to the Lake Surprise Estates neighborhood after the manatee was spotted in one of the residential canals.
Scientists with the Dolphin Research Center, based out of Grassy Key, got into the water and helped stretch nets across the canal to make sure the manatee did not swim away.
Officers moved their twin-engine vessel to herd the manatee closer to the net.
It worked.
By 10:20 a.m., everyone started pulling the second net and bringing the manatee up onto a boat ramp. The flipper fell off, but the manatee was in good condition.
“It actually did self-amputate in the net, which is kind of the best-case scenario that it doesn’t have to go in to get surgery. And the vets looked it over and the wound was pretty healed already,” Howell said.
After the manatee was treated and microchipped, a veterinarian determined it was healthy enough to be released back into the water.
“We share the waterways with these amazing animals, and we need to be aware that human activities can affect these animals to this extent,” said Dolphin Research Center veterinarian Scott Gearhart.
“If you ever see discarded fishing line, or anything, please remove it from the water the best you can,” Howell said. ‘Animals do get entangled in it all the time.”
For more information about manatee conservation or to report a distressed manatee, click on this link.