A pregnant manatee rescued off Cape Cod is now swimming in the Bahamas
The wayward, pregnant manatee rescued from Cape Cod waters this fall is now swimming in warmer seas off the Bahamas, The Mystic Aquarium said Monday in a Facebook post.
https://www.facebook.com/mysticaquarium/posts/10154297276002515
Researchers with the Sea to Shore Alliance and Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organization used a tracking transmitter to follow the 900-pound marine mammal, named Washburn, during her journey to the island. The researchers fitted the transmitter to her before she was released in Florida in November.
The Sea to Shore Alliance said manatees are rare in the Bahamas, and Washburn is the first one researchers have tracked crossing from Florida to the islands in real time.
“As the number of manatees slowly increases, environmental conditions change, and public awareness of manatees rises, we have been seeing Florida manatees show up in unusual places like Massachusetts, the Bahamas, and Cuba,” Monica Ross, research scientist for Sea to Shore Alliance said in a statement. “Our tracking study is investigating where manatees go when they leave Florida and what areas unknown to us are important to them. Washburn is proving to be a particularly interesting manatee for this study; she definitely has us on our toes wondering where she’ll go next.”
Concerned that the northern temperatures were becoming too cold for her to survive, the International Fund for Animal Welfare rescued the manatee off Washburn Island near Falmouth, Mass., in September. Washburn spent almost a month at the Mystic Aquarium for rehabilitation before returning to Florida.
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