Following Year's Rehabilitation For Cold Stress, Chandler Reunited With Tampa Bay Manatees

TAMPA BAY, FL — On the heels of the latest report announcing manatee mortality rates in 2021 exceeded 1,100 animals, there was a moment of hope Wednesday when Chandler, a 720-pound manatee rescued by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission last January, was returned to his native Tampa Bay waters.

The male manatee was rehabilitated at ZooTampa’s David A. Starz Jr. Manatee Critical Care Center, home of one of only four critical care centers in the U.S. for injured, sick and orphaned manatees.

At the time of rescue, Chandler weighed 490 pounds and was suffering from cold stress. Considered an inexperienced juvenile due to his age and size, he was released at the TECO Manatee Viewing Center where manatees gather in large numbers, and he can learn from other manatees to migrate from this warm-water sanctuary to other areas as temperatures rise.

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Each winter, hundreds of manatees gather to bask in the warm-water discharge in the canal next to Tampa Electric's Big Bend Power Plant in Apollo Beach, which has been designated a state and federal manatee sanctuary, and provides a location for rehabilitated manatees to be released.

TECO funded the Manatee Viewing Center, a free environmental education facility, at 6990 Dickman Road, that included a viewing area where residents can watch the manatees in the canal. It is open Nov. 1 to April 15 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Manatee Viewing Center also assists the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute with manatee research and rescues.

The research institute is the lead state organization on manatee rescues, assists in manatee releases, conducts research and provides scientific information used to protect, conserve and manage Florida's marine resources.

ZooTampa at Lowry Park's state-of-the-art critical care center has cared for more than 500 injured, sick and orphaned manatees with the majority returned to Florida waters.