News

Manatees On The Mend

By Cora Berchem, Director of Multimedia and Manatee Research Associate

It was the moment many of us had been waiting for—the new manatee rescue and release ramp at Blue Spring State Park was finally completed in early May. This is a major improvement over the wonky stairs leading down to the water that we previously had to use to carry manatees in and out of the water. The new ramp was built with the support of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), The Friends of Blue Spring State Park, state park staff and volunteers, and Save the Manatee Club. In early May, we organized a planting event to put native plants around the ramp to stabilize the ground and make it look more natural. Then, on June 3, the park had an official ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the new manatee ramp.

That same day, alongside our partners from FWC, Volusia County, Brevard Zoo, Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute (CMARI), and the Florida State Park staff and volunteers, we returned manatee Churro back into her native habitat. Churro has a long history of rescues and returns to the wild. She was initially rescued as a newborn calf together with her severely injured mother, Reckless, in May of 2021. They were released together in Port Everglades in early 2024, but unfortunately, mom and daughter separated shortly after, and the decision was made to relocate Churro to Blue Spring to give her a better chance of survival. She was tagged by CMARI and was doing well throughout the summer, fall, and early winter of 2024, but after a prolonged cold December and January, Churro wasn’t leaving the spring run to feed in the river and had lost significant weight. The decision was made to intervene and bring her back in for rehab at SeaWorld Orlando. She was later transferred to the newly opened manatee rehab facility at Brevard Zoo as one of their first patients. By early June, Churro’s health had improved and she is once again enjoying the habitat around Blue Spring.

Just a few weeks after, manatee Lizzie was once again ready to be taken back to her native habitat, too. Like Churro, Lizzie struggled with the cold winter and had lost significant weight. She was rescued again in early April and rehabilitated at SeaWorld before her return to Blue Spring.

Our partners around the state continue to care for a large number of manatees. During the summer months, rescues for watercraft always increase, but entanglement rescues have been on the rise too. Our partners in southeast Florida and the Florida Keys rescued multiple manatees, mostly from entanglement in monofilament fishing line. Some of them were “repeat offenders,” meaning they had previously been rescued for entanglements. Luckily, many of these cases were able to be treated in the field, and the manatees returned back to their natural environment right away. It serves as a good reminder to always responsibly discard fishing line and other trash so manatees do not become entangled.