Four Rehabilitated Manatees Return To Open Waters After 10 Month Recovery

By  //  January 15, 2016

returned to the port st. john boat ramp

Four rehabilitated manatees on Florida's east coast returned home earlier this week. (Fish and Wildlife image)
Four rehabilitated manatees on Florida’s east coast returned home earlier this week. (Fish and Wildlife image)

Four rehabilitated manatees on Florida’s east coast returned home earlier this week.

The animal spent almost 10 months recovering at Miami Seaquarium after being rescued last March in Stuart, Florida.

It was very thin and had severe skin lesions, likely a result of chronic cold stress.

This manatee made a full recovery and was released this afternoon at Willoughby Creek in Martin County.

Three other manatees were transported this morning from SeaWorld to the Port St. John boat ramp in Brevard County.

Once at the boat ramp, the manatees were loaded onto a boat and transported to the discharge area of the Florida Power and Light Power Plant and released into the warm waters near the plant.

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Activities were conducted under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service permit # MA770191.

The Manatee Rescue and Rehabilitation Partnership (MRP) monitors the health and survival of rescued, rehabilitated, and released manatees.

If you see a distressed, injured or dead manatee in Florida waters, contact our Wildlife Alert hotline at 888-404-3922.

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