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Posted by Shaun Chaiyabhat
"Manny" the Manatee Found Dead
Dec 11, 2006 05:01 PM CST
Manatee body found near McKeller Lake
MEMPHIS, TN - A sad day for fan's of a wayward Florida manatee nicknamed "Manny". A dead manatee was found Monday on the bank of McKellar Harbor. The stretch of water where Manny was found has heavy traffic, but people who are on the water daily didn't notice it until recently.
The manatee was first seen in the Wolf River Harbor behind Mud Island on October 22nd. For five days, crowds of people stood on the shore to watch him swim. Crews from the Memphis Zoo and Sea World in Orlando hoped to help the manatee... But he disappeared, until today.
It's likely Manny didn't die recently. Cold temperatures and frigid waters would have been too much for the Florida native.
"The temperature of the water which I checked yesterday is probably about 45 degrees," said McKellar Lake Marina owner Larry Stanley. "It takes several days in some cases 16-20 days for a body to even think about coming to the surface."
A fisherman may have found the manatee's body. Stanley took News Channel 3 to where we heard Manny was spotted. All the while, Stanley was getting calls from Tennessee Game and Wildlife who were trying to find out more as well.
"If I understand correctly, the Zoo would like to retrieve the body and would like to perform an autopsy on the animal."
Manny was found about 6 miles from the marina. U.S. Fish and Wildlife say it's very unlikely another wayward manatee would travel this far north. He was found less than a quarter mile from the Mississippi River. When Manny went missing back in October, many were hoping he had gone south to warmer waters. Instead, he landed near McKellar Lake.
"It's likely he probably was dead before he even came into the lake."
There's no telling if Manny got to this location on his own. However, this isolated spot is close to the sea cow's path home.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says it's likely Manny died from the cold. We're told the Memphis Zoo will recover the body to perform a necropsy, an animal autopsy. Experts from Florida are aware of the finding, and are assisting.
I am so sad. The manatee that ended up here back in October in the Wolf River Harbor was found dead this morning on the bank in McKellar Lake. He had disappeared overnight after Sea World had arrived and couldn't be found so they assumed he had gone back south toward warmer water. But instead he had gone upstream 6 miles and of course the water temp is 45 degrees. We have had very cold weather. The zoo here is going to collect his body and perform an autopsy. The manatee was very thin. Probably something wrong with him in the first place that he ended up swimming way up here.
