TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — It’s been a record year for the number of manatees at the TECO Big Bend Power Plant, and two more manatees just joined the group.
On Tuesday, ZooTampa workers released two manatees that were rescued last year and rehabilitated at ZooTampa and at the Georgia Aquarium.
One of the manatees was rescued last January from the St. Petersburg area of Tampa Bay, after suffering from cold stress and weighing just 320 pounds.
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The other manatee was rescued in February after being found in Little Sarasota Bay, emaciated and weighing 260 pounds.
“When they come in to us, from the wild to the critical care pools, we see them for boat strike injuries, cold stress, which is what we have a lot of cases right now, red tide and entanglements,” said Cynthia Stringfield, the senior VP of Animal Health, Conservation & Education at ZooTampa.
Stringfeld was excited about Tuesday’s release.
“Any day that any of our patients are getting released, it’s an incredible feeling for us,” Stringfield said.