From a recent edition of the Fort Myers News-Press; article by Michael Braun:
With the flick of his paddle-like tail, Myerslee, a 520-pound manatee, scooted off the rescue hoist and into the water around Horton Park in Cape Coral.
Adam Brown, an Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission public information officer, offered his support, the muscular kind, as a crew from Zoo Tampa At Lowry Park lifted Myerslee from the box truck he was hauled in from Tampa.
The aquatic mammal, rescued in April, returned to the Caloosahatchee on July 27 in a combined effort of the FWC and Zoo Tampa.
“It was a very quick turnaround,” Marie Filipek, senior animal care professional at Zoo Tampa, said. “Which is good.”
When first found, Myerslee was about 70 pounds lighter and in distress.
The rescue took place on the Orange River near the state Route 80 bridge, not too far from the Manatee Park area where many of the animals congregate in a warm water refuge.
Read more about his adventure here, or to see video footage of Myerslee’s return to the ocean, click here!
