Members of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission helped rescue an injured mother manatee and calf on Wednesday in the Orange River.
LEE COUNTY, Fla. – Members of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office got their boots wet in an unusual rescue in South Florida on Wednesday.
In a joint rescue with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), officials were tasked with rescuing an injured manatee mother and her calf from the Orange River.
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Drone footage provided by the sheriff’s office shows officials calmly floating around the large mammal, not to scare the animal.
In an instant, officials kicked the boat back into gear and released a rescue net as they circled the mother and her calf. After a brief struggle with water splashing between the two huge animals, rescuers were able to get them both on board and ready for extraction to dry land.
Florida first responders rescued an injured mother manatee and her calf on Wednesday.
“Biologists strive never to separate a mother and her calf,” a statement from the FWC reads. “If a mother manatee needs to be rescued, we will rescue her calf, and if a calf needs to be rescued, we will also rescue its mother.”
Manatee rescues are a common practice in South Florida due to watercraft collisions, entanglement, cold stress, red tide and tidal stranding.
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As of late, the FWC and other partners have rescued six manatees in Southwest Florida in response to the animals showing signs of cold stress, malnutrition and watercraft injuries.
