KEY COLONY BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Three grownup male manatees rescued from waters in the Florida Keys earlier this yr have been returned to a Keys canal after being handled and rehabilitated at SeaWorld Orlando.
Personnel from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Dolphin Research Center, Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters and SeaWorld helped transition the trio on Tuesday from transport vans to land after which into the water.
“Three animals in the same day … there’s nothing better,” Dolphin Research Center medical director Dr. Scott Gearhart mentioned. “To take in an animal that needs your help and to see them released is fantastic … all three of them.”
Measuring as much as 11 ft (3.3 meters) and weighing greater than 1,000 kilos (450 kilograms) every, the manatees have been rescued in April, June and July, respectively. Their medical situations included a ship strike that prompted a cranium fracture, extreme emaciation and gastric points, dehydration and irritation.
An animal named Manakey weighed 460 kilos (209 kilograms) when it was rescued June 10. The marine mammal weighed 1,005 kilos (456 kilograms) when it went again into the water.
Treatment ranged from eradicating bone fragments to antibiotics and dietary assist.
Marine mammal consultants remind the general public to be vigilant when boating in Florida waters.
“We share the waterways with these animals,” Gearhart mentioned. “They’re very slow moving and they get into stuff, and you really need to be careful about what your activity is on the water.”