Rescued cold-stressed manatees taken to Jacksonville critical care facility

VILANO BEACH, Fla. — A manatee, needing treatment for cold-stress and blunt-force trauma, was found in Vilano Beach on Sunday.

Another manatee, also suffering from cold-stress, was found Thursday in St. Nicolas.

“He just came in last night and vets did an exam, took samples this morning,” Jacksonville Zoo Deputy Director Dan Maloney said.

He’s not eating, so veterinarians are having to feed him through a tube, and are monitoring his breathing.

Normal, healthy manatees take a breath once every three to four minutes; the one brought in Thursday night is breathing once a minute.

The other manatee, from Sunday, is doing better and finally eating on his own.

Maloney said having the Manatee Critical Care Center in our area means the animals can get help fast.

“When we retrieve animals out of the water instead of having to truck them so far into other places in fl its ideal to get them well here and released in the area they were retrieved.

He says they didn’t expect to be this busy this year but the cold winter made it rough on the manatees in our waterways.

Cox Media Group