PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. – A gentle giant almost always seen close to our coasts managed to find its way into an inland South Florida lake.
Residents of the Cedarwoods community in Pembroke Pines are wondering how a manatee ended up in their manmade lake.
Myriam Schenk spotted it Friday morning.
“I saw the face and I said, ‘What is this?’” she said. “I started taking a video and said, ‘This is a manatee!’”
Bill Barnett and his wife Sharon saw it too — at the end of June.
They think it was swimming with a baby.
“I grew up with manatees,” Bill Barnett said. “This is the first one we’ve seen on the lake. I’ve been here like 15 years.”
The sea cow was nowhere to be seen when Local 10 News showed up.
Marine biologists tell Local 10 News that manatees can travel this far west though canals and storm drains.
And while they can survive in this environment, in 2021, a manatee had to be rescued by state wildlife officers from another Pembroke Pines lake because it was underweight and swimming erratically.
This one is said to appear healthy.
“It’s beautiful and it’s amazing we have the opportunity to see it here,” Sharon Barnett said.
A marine biologist said a lake can offer a variety of food sources — and that can be a good thing.
They’ll continue to monitor the manatee and make sure it’s OK.