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The wintering season opened Thursday. Seven areas in and around Kings Bay closed as sanctuaries for the animals.
By BARBARA BEHRENDT
© St. Petersburg Times, published November 16, 2001
HOMOSASSA -- Local manatee protectors opened the first day of the manatee season on Thursday in a very hands-on manner.
The local rescue team was called to an area known as the Blue Waters of the Homosassa River to rescue an emaciated female manatee that appeared to be having trouble breathing and was not moving in a normal manner.
The animal had been tagged with a radio transmitter around her tail earlier by manatee researcher Bob Bonde of the U.S. Geological Survey's Sirenia Project. But by late Thursday afternoon, the rescue team was cruising the canals around the Blue Waters looking for a stronger radio signal and a sign that they had located the animal.
By the time the sun had set, the group gave up for the day, planning to return in the morning.
"It's kind of scary" to start the manatee season with a rescue effort, said veterinarian Mark Lowe. "It's just the beginning."
The manatee was first spotted from the Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park by Lowe's wife, Susan, who is a ranger at the park.
"I saw it yesterday morning by the long river bridge and it looked abnormal. It wasn't breathing properly," said Mrs. Lowe. "There were no fresh wounds but the spine did not look right."
She noted that the "best case scenario" would be for the team to find the manatee resting again in the Blue Waters first thing this morning. Even then, catching such a massive animal is a challenge.
"She's a big ol' girl, that's what Bob Bonde said," Mrs. Lowe noted. Bonde had to use the largest size belt to attach the radio transmitter to the animal's tail.
The symptoms this animal is exhibiting are similar to those of a manatee the team rescued from Kings Bay two weeks ago. That effort took two days of chasing the animal all the way down the Crystal River. The female manatee, named Bagley Cove for the region where she was first found, was taken to Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa for treatment of injuries related to a probable boat strike.
A condition report on that animal was not available Thursday, but Lowe said that earlier this week the zoo veterinarian had been working on the manatee and it seemed to be doing better.
Much manatee protection debate has centered in recent months on the Blue Waters, where both state and federal officials have discussed placing sanctuaries to keep resting manatees from being harassed by the many boats and swimmers that flock to the area.
Mrs. Lowe noted that the injuries on this new manatee were likely chronic and so there is no way of knowing where it might have been injured if it has a boat-related injury. Until it is captured and examined, officials can't say whether injury or illness is its problem.
The wintering season opened Thursday with the closure of seven areas in and around Kings Bay through March 31. No human activities are allowed in the manatee sanctuaries.