Photos: Manatee rescued from Bayboro Harbor in St. Petersburg
A manatee that appeared to be suffering from cold stress was rescued from Bayboro Harbor near the USF St. Petersburg campus on Friday afternoon and taken to ZooTampa.
The rescue was called in after St. Petersburg campus Regional Chancellor Christian Hardigree saw the manatee and asked student Hailey Hayes to call it in to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
“I saw what looked like a manatee nose,” Hayes told the Tampa Bay Times. “I called FWC. From there they dispatched the rescue team.”
The female manatee is about a year and a half old and was underweight at about 400 pounds. It will need to be nursed back to health and won’t be released until it is about 600 pounds, which could take a year, according to an official at ZooTampa.
This is the busiest time of the year for manatee rescues because of cold stress. Two other manatees were brought to ZooTampa on Thursday and the facility is filling up, the official said. And the weather is only going to get colder this weekend, though temperatures will start warming next week.
The zoo official said the manatee is considered in critical condition if it is brought to the facility, though it was in stable condition Friday evening.
People who see manatees in distress can call wildlife officials at 1-888-404-3922.
Here are more photos of the rescue:
