Several Coastal Adoptees Surface This Winter

March 7, 2025 | March 2025,

Millie at a power plant in Ft. Lauderdale. Photo courtesy of FWC, taken under USFWS permit MA773494.

Coastal Adoption Update

By Cora Berchem, Director of Multimedia and Manatee Research Associate

It was a busy winter for coastal adoptee sightings. First, Zelda was seen by a citizen in Key West in late December, and she seems to have a calf! Next, we received an update that Illusion was seen by our partners from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) at Harbor Branch in Fort Pierce, and again a few days later, in early January, during photo-ID efforts at Manatee Lagoon in Riviera Beach, where she was also spotted on their live webcams! We weren’t sure where to expect Millie, our known traveler, who seems to have spent most of the summer and fall in the Silver River near Ocala. Then, our partners sighted her in early December at the Port Everglades power plant in Fort Lauderdale—what a trip she made again! Flicker showed up at the Tampa Electric Company Apollo Beach power plant on January 17 but managed to evade any cameras. Finally, Vector made an appearance on February 21 at Bayboro Harbor in St. Pete. He was so late, his sighting almost didn’t make it into this issue! We will keep you updated with additional sightings from our partners as they review all their photo-ID data from this season.