CLEARWATER, Fla. — Wildlife workers helped rescue an injured manatee near Clearwater Friday.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission got a call about an ailing manatee in Stevenson Creek.
The Clearwater Marine Aquarium Rescue Team, along with FWC, ZooTampa and the City of Clearwater went to the scene and found a female manatee with an injury from a watercraft. She was also missing her front left pectoral flipper, possibly from an earlier watercraft injury.
Male manatees had begun to surround the injured female to form a mating herd.
The rescue team used nets to separate the female from the herd and brought her to shore with a specialized rescue boat. A crane was used to load the manatee into CMA's rescue van.
The 2,070-pound manatee was taken to ZooTampa for treatment.
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