Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission has reported that the manatee successfully rescued from a Tar River canal in Greenville in November is free once again. The 9-foot female manatee nicknamed Pamlico was released Thursday, January 16, 2025 in Florida after being medically cleared for release by SeaWorld Orlando and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). She is the first documented case of a manatee being successfully rescued in North Carolina.

Pamlico was released by staff from FWS, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, SeaWorld Orlando and The TECO Manatee Viewing Center at Tampa Electric’s Big Bend Power Station in Apollo Beach. It’s a popular winter “warm up station” for manatees as they cannot survive for extended periods of time in water temperatures below 68°F. They risk becoming cold stressed, an often-fatal condition similar to hypothermia in humans.

This discharge canal is a state and federally designated manatee sanctuary and includes a manatee viewing center. The FWS identified Pamlico through their photo ID database. All of her past sightings were at this location.

FWS’s Florida manatee recovery lead Terri Calleson helped organize the rescue and release operation, saying: “This was an impressive team effort with organizations from North Carolina to Florida coming together to successfully rescue, transport, rehabilitate and release this manatee. We greatly appreciate the reports from the public as well as the heroic efforts of all of these partners who had a hand in helping return this manatee to the wild population.”

{FWS video}

Pamlico was rescued on Nov. 18 at a Greenville Utilities Commission’s wastewater treatment plant outfall, suffering from cold stress and with skin injuries related to boat strikes. She was transported to SeaWorld Orlando’s manatee critical care facility, where staff had been caring for her since her rescue.

According to the University of North Carolina Wilmington, manatee sightings have significantly increased in North Carolina during the warmer months.

“As global climate change continues to create warmer ocean temperatures, this is creating more suitable habitat areas for manatees along the Atlantic coast, causing them to venture farther away from Florida,” said assistant stranding coordinator Alison Loftis. “However, this becomes a problem when water temperatures drop below 68°F. Water temperatures in the fall and winter can drop rapidly in North Carolina, trapping manatees in dangerously cold water and putting them at high risk of cold stress, as we saw in Pamlico’s case.”

According to FWS, this rescue is the first time a manatee has been successfully rescued in North Carolina since they began keeping records in the 1970s. In 2021, a manatee was found by a beachgoer in Kill Devil Hills; however, it died before being rescued. FWS says there have been successful manatee rescues as far north as Massachusetts.

Pamlico’s rescue was a multi-state, multi-agency team effort  that included key North Carolina partners: FWS, SeaWorld Orlando, Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute, N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC), N.C. Aquariums, UNC-Wilmington Marine Mammal Stranding Program, N.C. State University’s Center for Marine Sciences and Technology and its College of Veterinary Medicine.

Partners that helped with this rescue from Florida are part of the Manatee Rescue and Rehabilitation Partnership, a cooperative of agencies, organizations and oceanaria focused on rescuing, rehabilitating and returning manatees to the wild. All organizations are authorized to conduct these activities by the FWS.

Feeding manatees or giving them water is illegal and may cause them to delay their migration south to warmer water. Manatees accustomed to being around people may lose their natural fear of boats and humans, which makes them more susceptible to harm.

“There are ways that our communities can help protect manatees in North Carolina,” said Loftis. “Through valuable information collected from sighting reports, biologists can learn more about how manatees are using our waters and the best ways to protect them. Through community-based science, everyone can be part of manatee conservation by submitting manatee sighting information to researchers.”

In North Carolina, the public is asked to report an injured or deceased manatee by calling the 24-hour marine mammal stranding hotline at 910-515-7354.

To report sightings of healthy manatees in North Carolina, submit information, including photos and location of the animal, to the UNCW Marine Mammal Stranding Program.

READ ABOUT MORE NEWS HERE.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE COASTLAND TIMES TODAY!