Manatee Mom, Baby Ready For Release After Boat Strike

TAMPA, FL — A manatee mother injured during a “horrific” encounter with a boat in May is ready to return to the wild. Officials at Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo say the manatee’s calf will be by her side when she’s released into water in the New Port Richey area this Thursday.

Pascow and Cottee’s story began to unfold back just before Mothers Day weekend in May when officials from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission were alerted about an adult manatee and calf trapped in a canal. When they arrived, they discovered the mother manatee, since named Pascow, had suffered an injury to her tail. Lowry Park officials say her tail had been “sliced open by a boat propeller, creating deep gashes.”

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Fearing a high risk of infection, Pascow and baby Cottee were “rushed to the Zoo’s David A. Straz Jr. Manatee Critical Care Center for immediate medical attention and around-the-clock monitoring,” zoo officials wrote in a Tuesday email to media. Since Pascow’s injuries were so severe, it was also feared she would not be able to continue nursing her calf.

Despite the odds, Lowry Park says Pascow made a “speedy recovery.” She was even able to continue caring for Cottee during her rehabilitation.

The two manatees, now deemed quite healthy, will be returned to the wild on Thursday, July 20 at 10:45 a.m. Zoo officials say the critters will be released in the New Port Richey area. Manatee lovers can watch the release in a live stream that will be posted on Lowry Park Zoo’s Facebook page, according to spokeswoman Andrea Alava.

Lowry Park Zoo opened the David A. Straz Jr. Manatee Hospital in 1991 to provide care for sick and wounded manatees from across the state. Since its inception, the hospital has cared for more than 400 manatees. Manatees cared for at the hospital come in suffering from a variety of conditions. The zoo’s team has treated manatees for such concerns as boat strikes, red tide exposure, cold stress and entanglement.

Lowry Park’s manatee hospital is the only nonprofit, acute care facility of its kind and is one of only three federally permitted rehabilitation facilities in the state, the zoo said. As a nonprofit organization, the zoo relies heavily on donations to fund its manatee hospital and other animal care efforts.

“Without support from you and others in our community, the zoo cannot continue critical care of manatees,” it explained on its website.

To help fund the hospital’s manatee rehabilitation and release program, visit Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo online.

Photo courtesy of Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo