Manatee Spotted In Shark River In Belmar

BELMAR, NJ — A manatee has been spotted multiple times now in the Shark River inlet in Belmar, according to the Marine Mammal Stranding Center.

The manatee, usually known for living in much warmer water, was first spotted Saturday morning in a lagoon near the Shark River inlet, they said.

The Marine Mammal Stranding Center is currently monitoring the manatee, and they say the animal appears healthy and not in need of help.

"The last confirmed sighting of the manatee was on Sunday night, with the animal observed actively swimming close to the inlet," they said.

The public is urged to immediately report any further sightings to MMSC's 24-Hour Stranding Hotline (609) 266-0538. If sighted, please stay at least 150 feet away from the manatee, and do not attempt to feed or offer water to the animal.

The animal rescue group confirmed it is a Florida manatee, and they think it is the same manatee that was seen off Cape Cod in late July. A few weeks later, what is believed to be the same manatee was sighted swimming south, this time past Connecticut and Rhode Island.

Manatees need to be in water that is 68 degrees or warmer, they said.

"Most people don't think of manatees being in the Northeast, however manatees will occasionally follow warm water currents up from their native Florida during the summer months, making their way back down south as temperatures start to drop in the fall," said the group. "Some years these transient visitors can be spotted as far north as Massachusetts."

This is also not the first time New Jersey has been visited by a manatee:

New Jersey’s most notable manatee was Ilya, who was found in New Jersey waters in October 2009. In danger of hypothermia, the 1,100-pound sea cow took refuge in the warm water outflow of an oil refinery in Linden.

She had to be pulled out of the oil refinery and brought back to health at the Marine Mammal Stranding Center's marine lab in South Jersey.

"The massive creature was stabilized in our warm pool, eating over 100 pounds of lettuce every day," they said in this Facebook post.

Two days later, IIya was flown via a U.S. Coast Guard C-130 helicopter to an aquarium in Miami for rehabilitation before she was released back into the wild. She lived in the wild for another 10 years, before she died in 2018 from injuries sustained during a collision with a watercraft in the Florida Keys, said the group.