ICYMI: 7 Manatees Trapped by Hurricane Hermine Floodwaters Rescued (Video)

CRYSTAL RIVER, FL — When Hurricane Hermine swung through Florida’s Gulf Coast region earlier this month, people weren’t the only ones in peril. Manatees, too, suffered as flood waters began to rise.

A total of seven manatees, including a mother and baby, found themselves trapped on a golf course in Crystal River. Those manatees, initially reported stranded on Sept. 2, were rescued by an extensive team of volunteers on Thursday, Sept. 15.

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, its officials first received a report about the creatures being trapped in a pond on property belonging to The Plantation on Crystal River on Sept. 2. That report prompted an immediate assessment of their condition and food supply. Plans to relocate the creatures back into the wild were then laid into place.

To pull off such a massive rescue, FWC required help from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo, Clearwater Marine Aquarium and a host of other volunteers, FWC reported.

The effort was a success.

“Once the manatees were moved out of the pond, they received health assessments before being released back into the wild,” FWC reported on Facebook. “The combined efforts of the FWC and other local, state and federal partners to rescue manatees, collect valuable data and establish important protections have produced positive results in manatee conservation.”

Florida is home to an estimated 6,250 manatees, according to statistics released by the state earlier this year. Those numbers resulted from an annual aerial count that is meant to help gauge the state’s manatee population. Only manatees visible in state waters at the time the survey is conducted are counted.

Manatees are native to the state of Florida and are found in many of the state’s waterways. The creatures were first listed as a federal endangered species in 1966 and are protected both by state and federal law. People are asked to report injured, entangled or dead manatees found in Florida waters via the state’s Wildlife Alert hotline at 888-404-3922.

Hurricane Hermine was the first hurricane to make landfall in Florida since Wilma struck in 2005. Hermine made landfall in the Panhandle on Sept. 2, but also dumped copious amounts of water on other parts of the state including Crystal River’s Citrus County.

Photos and video courtesy of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission/FWC photos by Karen Parker