Last week, members of the SeaWorld Orlando Rescue Team and the Clearwater Marine Aquarium assisted in the rescue of an 290 pound adult melon-headed whale in Clearwater Beach.
The teams were called to assist by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) after getting a call about this animal being on the beach. Upon conferring with NOAA Fisheries after assessing the animal, the decision was made to transport the animal to SeaWorld Orlando for rehabilitation.
Members of the SeaWorld Orlando Rescue Team and the Georgia Aquarium Conservation Field Station, along with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) have returned a rehabilitated dolphin back to the ocean.
The 265 lb. sub-adult Atlantic bottlenose dolphin, dubbed “Sharkie,” was rescued in February on Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, after FWC reached out for assistance due to the animal’s life-threatening injuries.
The SeaWorld Orlando Rescue Team is now caring for an 800-pound pregnant manatee that arrived yesterday on a U.S. Coast Guard plane from Connecticut.
The manatee, named Washburn, was picked up in Nantucket Sound, but manatees are not native to Massachusetts and the water is too cold for them to survive.