Weve got a new update out of Blue Spring: Latest Manatee Update: January 28, 2014 Today it was decided to capture Georgia as we were concerned about how thin she had become. The East Coast Marine Mammal Recovery Team from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) was there to greet me at Blue Spring at 8:30 a.m. The first animal I saw was Georgia. She was tagged and filmed and then an attempt was made to herd her into an area to prepare for capture. Three people could not do it, but it looked like more could, so with a plan in hand, SeaWorld was called. SeaWorld gathered resources and was at the park around 1:00 p.m. Nets and stretchers were deployed, a plan set, and the capture was on. With SeaWorlds additional people, the herding worked. Georgia was soon in a net, which was quickly abandoned for a stretcher. With a few more lifters from FWC Law Enforcement (no longer Park Police) and the park staff, Georgia was moved up the beach, up the stairs, across the boardwalk, and into the SeaWorld truck. Georgia was on the way to SeaWorld at about 2:00 p.m. All has gone well up to this point, now Georgia is at SeaWorld where she will get the best care available. You can read more about Georgias capture and see photos at The Daytona Beach News-Journal. In the midst of this at 11:00 a.m., a documentary film crew from Mexico arrived to interview me and film. The park staff had counted 131 manatees. With all that was going on with Georgia, I never did my count, but I did ID 70 manatees. There was Georgia of course, Philip, Howie, Annie, Paddy Doyle, Doc, Rocket, and Phyllis. There may have been more, but the cameraman kept standing up in the canoe, so I left my note book and scar sheets on the bank to be on the safe side. The RiverKeeper temperature at Sanford was 57° F.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 15:45:06 +0000
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