Hundreds of manatees were spotted at Three Sisters Springs, part of the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge Complex in central Florida, in dramatic video captured on Jan. 23, 2024.
DIXIE COUNTY, Fla.– Since Hurricanes Helene and Milton hit Florida in September and October, wildlife rehabilitation experts have been working hard to help animals left stranded or injured by the storms.
One notable rescue occurred in Florida’s Big Bend region recently when a 2-year-old manatee was found 1.5 miles from open water in a small pond near the Big Bend Wildlife Management Area in Dixie County, according to a ZooTampa Facebook post about the rescue.
The manatee, now named Gully, was found by a hunter and other people who called the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), according to Sandra Morrison, director of communications at ZooTampa.
Morrison said Gully most likely ended up in the area after Hurricane Helene brought heavy storm surge to Florida’s Big Bend.
FLORIDA MANATEES RESCUED AFTER BEING STRANDED ON LAND BY HURRICANE HELENE
ZooTampa partners with the FWC to rehabilitate sick, injured or stranded manatees called in by citizens, Morrison said.
Together, ZooTampa and FWC helped save Gully from the pond and relocate him to ZooTampa, where he’s now recovering at their Manatee Critical Care Center.
Gully was physically uninjured, but due to a lack of food sources from his remote location, he was thin and needed nourishment.
“He’s being tube-fed twice a day, and he’s starting to show some interest in food,” Morrison said.
According to FWC’s website, manatees are aquatic herbivores, and eat seagrass and other aquatic plants. Morrison said a concerned citizen fed Gully lettuce until he was rescued.
“He’s doing better,” Morrison said.
She said Gully will be kept at ZooTampa until the Manateee Care Team deems him healthy enough to be released back into Florida’s open waters.
Gully the manatee at his home in ZooTampa’s David A. Straz, Jr. Manatee Critical Care Center after his rescue.
(ZooTampa / FOX Weather)
ZooTampa’s post said without the involvement of concerned citizens, Gully’s rescue wouldn’t have been possible.
In addition to Gully’s rescue, the FWC has conducted a few other manatee recoveries in recent weeks.
In one post to X, the FWC said it rescued a lone manatee calf measuring about 4.9 feet long, from the Caloosahatchee River. The manatee was taken to SeaWorld for care, the post said.
In another rescue after Hurricane Milton, the FWC said it saved a female manatee from a residential canal/pond system. The manatee was taken to ZooTampa for rehabilitation.
After Hurricane Milton, a manatee was found entrapped in a residential canal/pond system, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said.
(@MyFWC/X / FOX Weather)
If you encounter a manatee that appears to be sick, injured, dead, tagged, orphaned or distressed, report it to the FWC by calling the Wildlife Alert Hotline. For more information, click here.