A manatee rescued last week from the Tar River in Pitt County is doing well and eating on her own, according to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.
Crews rescued the 855-pound, 9-foot manatee on Nov. 18. The commission said it is the first documented live rescue of a manatee in North Carolina.
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“Manatees are regularly seen in N.C. waters during warmer months, though the numbers of sightings historically have been much lower than what we’ve seen in recent years,” said University of North Carolina Wilmington Assistant Stranding Coordinator Alison Loftis. “Manatees travel north to our waters from Florida during the warm months of the year.
“However, manatees cannot survive for extended periods in waters less than 68 degrees Fahrenheit, so they must migrate back to Florida before our temperatures drop in the fall/winter. If they do not, they risk becoming cold stressed, an often-fatal condition similar to hypothermia in humans.”
Loftis said there has been a “significant increase” in manatee sightings in North Carolina.
“Many factors likely contribute to this, but the main one is climate change,” Loftis said. “As global climate change continues to create warmer ocean temperatures, this is creating more suitable habitat areas for manatees along the Atlantic coast, causing them to venture farther away from Florida."
Working with key North Carolina partners, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) quickly organized a multi-state, multi-agency marine mammal rescue team led by SeaWorld Orlando and included Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute, N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC), N.C. Aquariums, UNC-Wilmington Marine Mammal Stranding Program, N.C. State University's Center for Marine Sciences and Technology and its College of Veterinary Medicine.
The group made a plan to monitor and rescue the manatee, getting a truck, multiple nets and a specialized boat. However, they lost the manatee’s location for 10 days as she moved inland.
“On the day of travel, sightings stopped, and I thought for sure we got skunked. It always seems to end that way,” said NCWRC Science Support Specialist Karen Clark. “We were hopeful to get a second chance.
“I couldn't have been more excited when it was seen first thing in the morning on the planned capture day.”
The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission said the manatee was first reported to the Outer Banks Marine Mammal Stranding Network in late October, near Kitty Hawk.
“In order to monitor manatees in North Carolina, we greatly depend on receiving sighting reports from members of the public,” Loftis said. “Unfortunately, incidences of human interaction with manatees are quite common in our state.”
In North Carolina, the public is asked to report an injured manatee by calling the 24-hour marine rescue hotline at 910-515-7354.
Anyone who sees healthy manatees is asked to submit pictures and location information to the UNCW Marine Mammal Standing Program.