VIRGINIA BEACH — A thirsty manatee surprised passengers coming back to the dock from a dolphin-watching excursion in Rudee Inlet Saturday.
“We backed in from our 11 o’clock trip, and one of the fisherman by the fish cleaning stand yelled ‘manatee!’,” said Alexis Rabon, researcher for Rudee Tours, a wildlife-watching boat company. “There’s a little bit of fresh water output there so they’ll go to drink.”
It’s not the first time manatees have been sighted in Rudee Inlet, though this early in the summer is somewhat unusual.
“We were a little surprised to see this cutie,” said Rabon.
Manatees typically make an appearance locally in August or early September. However, one was spotted several weeks ago in the Lafayette River, according to the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center. The manatee in Rudee Inlet could be the same one seen in Norfolk, said an aquarium spokesperson.
Rabon believes the water is warmer this year than usual and recent offshore currents have pushed eel grass into the inlet, which may have attracted the manatee.
The animal was swimming near the Rudee Inlet bridge at the east end of the Virginia Beach Fishing Center parking lot. It was between 7 and 8 feet long, Rabon said. Adult manatees are around 10 feet long and weigh 1,000 pounds.
She tracked it in the inlet for about 30 minutes.
“It didn’t hang out for too long,” said Rabon. “The last time we saw it, it was headed out toward the Oceanfront.”
The manatee had distinctive scar marks on its back and a shredded fluke, or tail, likely from past interactions with boat propellers, said Rabon.
The marks are used to identify individual manatees, and Rabon sent photographs and videos to the Virginia Beach aquarium as well as Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Manatees are tropical mammals that live in Florida’s rivers, canals and estuaries where there’s an abundance of sea grass as they are mostly vegetarians. They sometimes travel north in the summer and feed until the water temperature drops. The grayish brown-colored animals swim slowly and raise their snouts above water to breathe.
“You see this dark rock-looking thing coming up to the surface,” said Rabon.
Manatees are often referred to as “sea cows,” or as Rabon describes them, “big potatoes with cute little heads.”
She notified other boats in the area Saturday to be on the lookout for the manatee.
“If you happen to see one, make sure you maintain a distance away from them,” she said. “There’s a myth that you should give them fresh water or feed them, but that’s something you definitely shouldn’t do.”
To report a manatee or other marine life sighting, call the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center’s Stranding Response Program hotline at 757-385-7575.
Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com
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