JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A female manatee arrived Wednesday evening at SeaWorld in Orlando to be treated by an animal rescue team several hours after being rescued from a storm drain near the Ortega area of Jacksonville.
The team of marine biologists and veterinarians at the park examined the 950-pound manatee and will continue to monitor her to make sure she's healthy.
"No fractures, she's moving her paddle normally, her pecs look great. She's breathing well -- nothing that looks too severe to me," said Dr. Stacy DiRocco, SeaWorld veterinarian. "After being trapped for so long, we want to make sure that she can move normally on her own, that she can swim and that she looks like a normal manatee."
DiRocco said she expects a quick turnaround, saying the manatee could be released back into the wild within a week.
"Everybody loves to help in a situation like this and for us at SeaWorld, this is what makes us most proud of our jobs," DiRocco said.
Firefighters and wildlife officials were able to free the manatee Wednesday afternoon from the storm drain at the corner of Davinci Avenue off Ortega Boulevard in Jacksonville.
The manatee was first spotted about 8 a.m. by a worker who was part of a city crew paving the street in the area.
Manatees tend to pod in the area because of the luscious grass fields along the Ortega River, a JEA spokesperson said. But in this case, the sea cow munched a little too far.
The Jacksonville Fire Rescue Department and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission worked for hours to cut pipes away so that the adult manatee could be pulled from the storm drain.
WATCH: Extended video of manatee rescue
“Every life is precious to us. Doesn't matter who they are,” said JFRD District Chief Robin Gainey. “I've seen people put their lives at risk for a dog, and we get to them.”
Gainey said the rescue was a first of its kind for his department.
Dozens of onlookers gathered to watch as the crews struggled for hours to free the manatee. They finally lifted it free just after 3:30 p.m.
IMAGES: Manatee rescued from Venetia storm drain
“I'm thinking, 'Get him out of there.' I couldn't understand it,” onlooker Beth Pulignano said. “If you were an alligator, (but) I didn't think a manatee could get through these pipes.”
The children in the neighborhood named the manatee Venetia, after the neighborhood, and made signs to encourage the workers. The firefighters were calling the manatee "Piper."
The manatee had some scrapes and abrasions on its nose but is expected to be OK. A team of specialists at SeaWorld will determine where the manatee will be released once she recovers.
More about manatees
The 2015 manatee count in Florida was 6,250 -- an all-time record. The species has rebounded strongly from a low of 1,260 in 1991, however, it is still on the endangered species list.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed taking the manatee off the “endangered” list as a result, and moving it to the “threatened” list. That proposal has received a lot of opposition.
Manatees have few natural predators, but the marine mammals are vulnerable to cold water and toxic algae blooms.
Typically, manatees migrate to South Florida when the weather turns colder here.
