The first manatee ever rescued in North Carolina was released back into the wild Thursday after spending a few weeks recovering at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida.
The manatee had been found by biologists lethargic and malnourished in mid-November in a drainage canal, likely attracted by the ditch’s warmish waters, off the Tar River near Greenville.
Dubbed Pamlico by her rescuers, the nearly 9-foot, 855-pound female manatee should have been long gone from the Tar Heel State and well on her migration back to Florida when she was rescued Nov. 18 as temperatures dipped into the low 60s. A general rule of thumb is that manatees begin to get cold-stress syndrome, where their bodily functions can begin to shut down, when water temperatures drop below 68 degrees…