Sugar and spice, and everything nice, that’s what baby manatees are made of. DRC experienced this first hand when we responded to a call from a Key Largo resident about an infant West Indian manatee, Trichechus manatus that had been swimming alone in her boat basin for three days. DRC recently had been issued a Letter of Authorization from the Fish and Wildlife Service, allowing us to respond to manatee strandings. Like most mammals, baby manatees cannot survive long without their mother’s milk, so we had to act fast.
Three rescue teams were organized, the first team being dispatched immediately to interview the resident and assess the location and the manatee’s condition. The second team was then sent to provide assistance in the rescue and transport. Finally, the third team arrived on the scene with a moving van, donated by Ryder for the transport, fully equipped with stranding gear.
We stationed ourselves in the water around the perimeter and blocked the mouth of the lagoon with a net. After a diver tried to befriend the little animal for a few minutes, we realized she was frightened of the bubbles from the SCUBA gear. Since attracting her was not going to work, we herded her towards the net instead and were able to lift her onto an inflatable boat. The boat was placed onto the Ryder truck and filled with water to act as a portable waterbed.
The baby manatee was dubbed “Echo.” During the two-hour drive to Miami Seaquarium, the closest manatee rehabilitation facility, Echo began suckling our thumbs, obviously wanting a meal. Feeling terribly inadequate, we desperately hoped the lactating female at the Seaquarium would nurse her.
When we arrived at the park just past dusk, Seaquarium’s marine mammal veterinarian gave Echo a physical, took a blood sample, and gave her a milk solution. Then, the time came for Echo to meet her new friends. Seaquarium staff helped us lower Echo into a lagoon with two adolescent manatees. The greeting was magical. The manatees immediately swam to Echo and began nuzzling her. The three swam together in constant contact for the entire night. Echo was off to a good start.
The following day we returned to check on her progress and were pleased to find she had been moved to a tank housing several manatees, including a lactating mother. We watched with anticipation for Echo to begin nursing. It became apparent, however, that one of the adolescent females in the pool wanted to “adopt” Echo instead. She was following and “mothering” the little one — but this new friend had no milk to give.
Luck was on her side. Echo did eventually find the able mother and began to nurse. We were thrilled by the affection the manatees showed this little animal, to whom we had so quickly become very attached. After rehabilitation at Miami Seaquarium, Echo was released and successfully adopted by a female manatee at Homassassa Springs, having been renamed “Tamara.” At last report, the orphaned manatee, no longer small, had grown into a healthy adolescent.
