ORLANDO, Fla. – Members of the SeaWorld Orlando Rescue Team traveled to Charleston, S.C. this past week, to help save several wayward manatees.
The manatees were spotted in the upper area of the Cooper River, near warm water outflow. Because of the significant drop in temperate in South Carolina, the manatees remained close to the warm water outflow.
This isolated them from food sources and naturally warm waters they need. Historically, manatees move into warmer waters when the water temperature drops below 68 degrees.
The rescue operation took place over two days.
Two adult manatees, a male and a female, were successfully rescued on Thursday, December 8 after hours of searching. They were deemed healthy and transported back to Florida. Then, they were returned back to the wild in Brevard County near Port St. John.
The team started again the following day, successfully locating and rescuing two male manatees. They were also healthy animals and returned in Florida waters on Friday evening.
A fifth manatee was spotted in the area, but attempts to locate the animal were unfortunately not successful.
