Entangled manatee rescued in Clearwater Bay

Workers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Clearwater Marine Aquarium (CMA) rescued an adult male manatee Nov. 20. The distressed animal was entangled in crab trap lines.

The 9.5 foot mammal was first discovered Nov. 16, with a group of other manatees, in the waters of Clearwater Bay near Island Estates, north of the Aquarium. Although the lines were wrapped several times around the animal’s peduncle (the area between the body and the tail), it was able to breathe and move.

Due to rain and generally poor weather conditions, teams from CMA and the FWC’s Marine Mammal Pathobiology Laboratory were unable to approach the animals until the next day.

The stricken animal was fitted with a radio tag, but because of the presence of the other manatees, rescue that day proved impossible.

“We continued to assist with scouting for the animal over the weekend and tracking reports, and the animal was consistently reported in waters within or nearby Island Estates,” said Hannah Rogers, Senior Rescue Biologist at CMA.

On Monday (Nov. 20), the entangled manatee was located, and captured by net.

It was then that the rescuers noticed the four weighted crab traps attached to the nylon rope around the animal.

Once on land, FWC disentangled and completed a physical workup, cleaned the entanglement site with betadine and released the animal.

Employees of ZooTampa at Lowry Park participated in rescue efforts.

Injured, orphaned, entangled, distressed or dead manatees should be reported to the FWC’s Wildlife Alert Hotline: 888-404-3922.