While you may know Milton as the hurricane that swept through Southwest Florida in October, there’s a new Milton in town ― and he wants visitors.
Marco Island resident Bob Sanford found a surprise under his dock after Hurricane Milton passed: a 4-foot tall manatee mailbox.
After cleaning him up, Sanford posted his new friend on Facebook. The post went viral, beginning Milton the manatee’s journey to local celebrity status.
Milton’s humble beginnings
Sanford went out to his dock after Hurricane Milton passed through Marco Island to assess damage and to clean up. He expected to find some debris under the dock from the storm, but never expected to be greeted by a giant, heavy mailbox manatee.
“We pulled it out and that mailbox was face down in the water,” Sanford said. “I hosed it down and put it in the corner of my dock and went on with my day.”
But then boredom struck.
Sanford snapped a photo of the lost manatee mailbox and posted it in a Marco Island Facebook group. He said his phone started blowing up with notifications as the community reacted to Milton.