Frequently Asked Questions

Learn more about manatee rescue, rehabilitation, release, and post-release monitoring, as well as the work of the Manatee Rescue & Rehabilitation Partnership.

How do the different partners work together?

The MRP is a partnership of over 20 different entities, including state and federal agencies, non-governmental organizations, zoos, aquariums, oceanaria, universities, and others. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is in charge of all manatee rescues, as well as carcass recoveries, in the state of Florida. When a manatee is rescued, the manatee is brought to a federally authorized critical care facility for treatment and stabilization. Once critical care is no longer needed, the manatee may be transferred to a second-stage facility before release out into the wild.

What does each facility do?

All rescued manatees will first go to a critical care facility for evaluation, stabilization, and initial treatment. If a stable manatee needs more time to heal or grow before release into the wild, the manatee may be transferred to a second-stage facility.

Where can I learn more about the manatee unusual mortality event (UME)?

https://myfwc.com/research/manatee/rescue-mortality-response/ume/faq/

How can I make a donation to the MRP?

You can make a tax-deductible donation to the MRP at manateerescue.org/donate.

Do you have volunteer or internship opportunities?

The MRP is a partnership comprised of over 20 different entities. Each offers their own volunteer and internship opportunities. You can find a list of partners here: https://www.manateerescue.org/partners. We recommend contacting the individual partners for their respective opportunities depending on what field you are interested in.

Who should I contact if I see a sick, injured, orphaned, or dead manatee?

Call FWC's Wildlife Alert Toll-Free Number: 1-888-404-FWCC (3922); press "7" to speak with an operator. Cellular phone customers: *FWC or #FWC

Why would a manatee be rescued?

There are numerous reasons manatees are rescued. The natural category of rescue includes cold stress, red tide, stranding from high tide, and entrapment. There are also many human-related causes for rescue, such as watercraft strikes, entanglement, and ingestion of foreign material. Watercraft strikes can be blunt force, sharp trauma, or both. Entanglement is caused when a manatee becomes entangled in crab trap lines, monofilament, and other foreign materials. Orphaned calves or calves who have become separated from their mothers, are another category of rescue.

How do you rescue a manatee?

Many rescues are coordinated by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and should not be attempted by the public. Each rescue is unique. The on-site rescue coordinator will evaluate each scenario and determine how to most safely capture a manatee, taking a wide range of factors into consideration.

Where are you taking a manatee after rescue?

Rescued manatees are transported immediately to a federally authorized acute care rehabilitation facility. Acute care facilities in Florida include Zoo Tampa at Lowry Park, SeaWorld Orlando, and Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens.

How are manatees transported?

Specialized box trucks are used to transport rescued manatees. These trucks are climate-controlled and stocked with equipment to keep the manatee safe and comfortable during transport.

How long can a manatee stay out of the water?

Manatees can stay out of the water for extended periods of time, especially when they are provided additional support by the rescue team. Manatees are transported on closed-cell foam pads. In addition, the manatee skeletal structure is set up to partially support the weight when the manatee is out of the water. Some manatees have been transported long distances for 8-10 hours without issue.

How can I follow up on a rescued manatee?

FWC often shares rescued manatee updates on their social media pages, as do other partners.

How can I follow up on a carcass’ cause of death?

The preliminary manatee mortality table on the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute’s manatee statistics website is updated on Wednesday every week. This table lists the preliminary cause of death for each carcass reported through the Friday before. Once reports are finalized, the carcass data can be searched in the ‘Manatee Mortality Search.’

URL: https://myfwc.com/research/manatee/rescue-mortality-response/statistics/mortality/

How long do manatees stay in rehab?

Each manatee is unique and requires a different treatment plan. l Every animal receiving treatment progresses at varying rates. The average stay tends to be around a year, while orphaned calves can stay for up to three years.

How many pounds of lettuce does a manatee eat in rehab? How much in the wild?

While in rehabilitation, a manatee can consume around 15% of its body weight per day. Manatees in the wild often consume 10–15% of their body weight per day. With an average adult weighing 800-1200 pounds, it could easily consume over 80 pounds a day.

What do you feed manatees?

At the critical care facilities, they try to simulate how a manatee would forage in the wild by providing feeding opportunities both on the surface of the water column and submerged at the bottom. PVC pipes are utilized that are weighted down to hold the produce offered. Types of produce offered include romaine, endive, and escarole, as well as some natural diet that they would consume in the wild, such as hydrilla, water hyacinth, and eelgrass.

What are the most common causes for coming into rehab?

Manatees can come into critical care centers for a variety of causes, both natural and human-impacted. Some of the top causes are watercraft injuries (both propeller and blunt trauma), cold stress syndrome (resembles frostbite), orphaned calves, entanglements, and red tide poisoning.

Why is tracking equipment used on manatees?

Some manatees released from rehabilitation may not have a lot of experience in the wild, such as orphaned calves. The MRP prioritizes tracking the animals because tracking allows researchers to monitor these naive animals acclimation to their new environment and intervene if the animals are not adapting well after release.

The GPS equipment is used to collect data on where the manatee travels, water temperature, and other factors, providing researchers with knowledge on what waterways the manatee is using, where it is finding food, and what warm water sites it uses. This information is also crucial to knowing how to best protect these areas for manatees.

How is it attached to the manatee?

Unlike some tracking devices in some species that must be imbedded in an animal by surgery or piercing, this tag is attached passively. A foamed belt is placed around the manatee just above the tail. A tether is connected to the belt, and a GPS tag is attached to the tether. The equipment is built for each animal receiving it based on their measurements to ensure a good fit.

Does it bother manatees to wear the tracking equipment?

Manatee tracking equipment was tested and modified extensively over 20 years ago to ensure that the gear does not impede the natural behavior of manatees. Manatees have been observed feeding, socializing, mating, and even giving birth without incident, all while wearing this equipment. In fact, when researchers are in training, they will swim with the gear themselves and cannot feel the gear while swimming.

Why is the tag so big?

The housing of the tag contains the components for the GPS, VHF, and the batteries. It is then encased by a foam collar, which makes up the bulk of the tag. This collar helps to provide balance for the tag in the water and protects the critical components from damage. Though the tag looks cumbersome, it is quite light, especially for a manatee, which can weigh between 600 and 1500 pounds.

What happens if the tag gets caught on something?

All the equipment is made with breakaway points so that if it becomes entangled, it will break free from the animal. Researchers are then able to track the location of the gear for recovery.

How long do they keep the equipment on?

Manatees ideally will retain the equipment for up to a year, depending on the reason they are being tagged. If circumstances prevent the equipment from being removed by researchers, internal components within the gear will allow all the equipment to fall off on its own.

How do you choose where to release each manatee?

Adult manatees are released as close to their rescue sites as it is deemed safe to release them there. Manatees are migratory animals, so they become familiar with certain waterways. We want to release them where they will have the most success, and this gives them the best opportunity to thrive, as they should already be familiar with locations of grass flats for feeding, freshwater sources, and warm water sites during the winter. Orphaned calves without wild experience are released at specific sites where biologists can more easily keep an eye on them. These high-risk manatees are often tagged to allow monitoring of their adaptation to the wild.

How do you transport a manatee to a release site?

Manatees are transported to their release site in the same specialized trucks initially used for their rescue, which keeps them safe and comfortable.

Why are manatees rescued as orphans (“naive animals”) released in the winter?

A manatee calf will typically stay with its mom for approximately two years. During this time, the calf will learn where to find food to eat, where to find freshwater, and where to find warm water in the winter. If a manatee calf is rescued young and does not have much or any wild experience with mom, it likely will not understand how to find food, freshwater, or warm water. These naïve manatees are released in winter at a warm water site with other manatees present, with the hope that the young, inexperienced manatee will learn from the other manatees where to find food and how to use the warm water site during winter.

Who decides when a manatee can be released and whether a manatee is non-releasable?

Following rehabilitation, manatees that have been medically cleared by a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-qualified manatee veterinarian are released back into the wild. If a manatee has a condition that will potentially threaten its ability to survive once released, it may be deemed conditionally non-releasable.

What happens with manatees that are conditionally non-releasable?

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, FWC, and other MRP partners will discuss and decide on long-term holding plans for conditionally non-releasable manatees. If the condition that is keeping the manatee from being released is resolved, then there will be a discussion about a potential release. In most cases, conditionally non-releasable manatees need long-term holding and continued care so they will be transferred to a facility that can provide the necessary treatment and appropriate habitat for the rest of that individual’s life. They will be surrogates and companions for other manatees in the process of rehabilitating.

How do you prepare a manatee for release?

Managed care with manatee patients is hands-off with the exception of their medical treatments that are necessary for their rehabilitation and survival. Animal care specialists at the treatment facilities attempt to simulate how manatees would forage in the wild, both on the surface as well as bottom-dwelling vegetation. Food is offered throughout the day since they are foragers. The goal is to ensure that manatees in managed care are set up for a successful return to the wild.

What are the requirements a manatee must meet in order to be released?

Each manatee patient is unique, but the main milestones are that the manatee is medically stable, eating on its own, gaining weight, and that the animal has recovered from the ailments that it was rescued for.