By Mark Price
The Charlotte Observer
LARGO, Fla. — Manatees can weigh 1,000 pounds in Florida, but that didn’t stop a determined sheriff’s deputy from cradling one in her arms for hours so it wouldn’t sink and drown in the Intracoastal Waterway.
Pinellas County Deputy Jill Constant notes the ailing manatee had been seen trying to beach itself after reaching the point of exhaustion. It’s suspected the large mammal was suffering from exposure to toxic red tide blooms.
“This manatee is going to die right in front of us and I’m not letting that happen! We docked the boat, I took off my equipment, and got in,” Constant said in a June 20 news release.
“We stayed in the water for two hours holding its head up until it could be rescued.”
The manatee didn’t make things easy. Once it regained its strength, it began to struggle against the hands holding it in place. Photos show the water was about knee-deep, and Constant was kneeling in it.
“It started thrashing,” she said. “I thought I was going to drown.”
Fortunately, biologists with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conversation Commission arrived to take over.
Manatees, also known as sea cows, are herbivores that pose no threat to humans. However, they’re not easy to control. They average 10 feet in length in Florida, but can get as big as 13 feet and 3,500 pounds, the state reports.
Size estimates for the ailing manatee were not released, but it was clearly bigger than Constant, who is with the county’s Marine and Environmental Lands Unit.
The exact cause of the manatee’s distress was not revealed, but the incident happened “when red tide levels were high,” the sheriff’s office reports. Red tide algal blooms can be toxic to Florida manatees and cause a deadly sickness akin to poisoning, according to the University of Florida.
FWC officials report the manatee Constant helped save will recover, officials said.
Pinellas County is on Florida’s Gulf Coast, just west of Tampa.
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