VIDEO: SeaWorld Orlando Rescues Injured Manatee
By SeaWorld Orlando // January 9, 2015
manatee was recently struck by a boat
ABOVE VIDEO: The SeaWorld team worked alongside members of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to successfully rescue the manatee and transport it to SeaWorld. The 445-pound, nearly 7-foot manatee was recently struck by a boat, and as a result, developed pneumothorax, commonly known as a collapsed lung, restricting its ability to swim and surface for air.
ORLANDO, FLORIDA – Earlier this week, the SeaWorld Orlando Animal Rescue Team rescued an injured male manatee from the Indian River Intracoastal Waterway in Oak Hill, Florida.
The SeaWorld team worked alongside members of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to successfully rescue the manatee and transport it to SeaWorld.
The 445-pound, nearly 7-foot manatee was recently struck by a boat, and as a result, developed pneumothorax, commonly known as a collapsed lung, restricting its ability to swim and surface for air.
Immediately upon arrival the manatee underwent a complete health exam and was given fluids to aid with dehydration and antibiotics to treat possible infection. The manatee was outfitted with a specially designed wetsuit that the Animal Care Team created to assist buoyancy concerns.
Over the next couple of days and months, the SeaWorld Orlando Animal Rescue Team will closely monitor the manatee’s progress, providing round-the-clock care. The goal, as with every rescue, is to return the manatee back to his natural environment once he’s strong enough to survive on his own. Already in 2015, SeaWorld Orlando has rescued two manatees.
In collaboration with the government and other members of stranding networks, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment operates one of the world’s most respected programs to rescue ill and injured marine animals, with the goal to rehabilitate and return.
SeaWorld animal experts have helped more than 24,000 animals in need – ill, injured, orphaned and abandoned – for more than five decades.
As part of the Manatee Rescue & Rehabilitation Partnership (MRP), SeaWorld Orlando is an acute care rehabilitation facility that provides life-saving medical care to rescued manatees.
