A waywar d manatee has become stranded along the New Jersey coast and is in danger of hypothermia. He was last seen huddling for warmth near the outflow pipe of an oil refinery near Linden. Manatees, cannot survive for long in waters below sixty degrees Fahrenheit. Members of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center (MMSC) have planned a rescue, but bad weather, over the weekend, has foiled their efforts. They did manage to feed him some lettuce on Friday. He hasn't been spotted since then. "The chances of this animal making its way on to Florida and not succumbing to falling temperatures are slim," Underwood [of the MMSC] said Friday. The center hopes to capture the animal, check its health, and release it back into the warm waters of Florida. A typical manatee is around nine feet long and weighs half a ton.
Ilya spent the summer delighting residents of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast U.S., swimming up the Chesapeake Bay and North to Massachusetts. Manatees are rare in those parts and Ilya made headlines wherever he roamed. Countless numbers of wildlife lovers fanned out along the coastal waters to get a peek at the gentle sea cow, and Ilya, who seems to be something of a people watcher, didn't disappoint. But he stayed up north too long, and now, he may never get back home.
I will post updates on Ilya, as they become available, in the comments section, below.
Photo: Mwanner, some rights reserved.
