THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 7, 1994 TAG: 9410070626
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
His dark gray skin reveals scars from past battles, but a manatee recently rescued with help from an Elizabeth City-based Coast Guard crew is expected to come through his latest crisis unscathed.
``One of the attending physicians checked on him this morning, and he's doing OK,'' Lt. Dan Taylor, the public affairs officer for Air Station Elizabeth City, said Thursday.
The rare sea mammal, more than 10 feet long and weighing in excess of 1,400 pounds, swam into Maryland's Chesapeake Bay this summer and refused to head back into warmer water. The Coast Guard airlift helped save his life, since manatees cannot survive in cold water.
The manatee was transported Wednesday by a Coast Guard HC-130H Hercules fixed-wing plane from Baltimore to Sea World in Orlando, Fla.
The crew nicknamed the creature ``Herc'' because its huge, sluggish body lying on a foam-padded pallet so resembled the aircraft that carried it safely back home.
``Herc'' was expected to be released back into Florida ocean waters by today, after getting a clean bill of health by marine scientists who have stood 24-hour watch over the creature since it was brought to the National Aquarium in Baltimore on Oct. 1.
The aquarium began getting calls about a manatee in the northern Chesapeake Bay in July. The warm-water creatures sometimes migrate as far north as Virginia, but usually turn back once water temperatures dip below about 70 degrees.
This healthy male, for some reason, stuck around, and would have died before fall's end, an aquarium spokeswoman said.
``The animal wasn't sick. It didn't strand itself,'' said Elizabeth Malis, public relations coordinator for the aquarium.
After eluding captors for several days, the manatee was finally caught and brought to the aquarium last weekend, where he instantly became a local celebrity and dined daily on 50 pounds of romaine lettuce.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service contacted the Coast Guard, and the Elizabeth City Air Station agreed to donate the services of acargo plane and six-member crew.
``The aircraft that we have is the most suited for the job because it is so versatile an airplane that we could do exactly what the scientists wanted to do,'' pilot Jerry Dolan said from Florida.
Special instructions required flight engineer Bill Boroughs to duplicate the air pressure of sea level in the plane's cabin, and keep the temperature around 75 degrees.
``Because it's a sea creature, they weren't sure how it would react in the air,'' Dolan said Thursday. ``Essentially, inside the airplane, it was as if we never left the ground.''
Crew members Caleb Thompson and Hank Brandt supervised loading the manatee onto the plane and keeping it secure during the flight. Navigator Chris Ciero and co-pilot Cory Benz also made the trip.
About a dozen scientists and handlers accompanied the animal, using spray bottles to keep the manatee moist during the three-hour trip that began and ended with a bit of fanfare.
``When we were in Baltimore, it had a police escort not unlike the President,'' Dolan said. One of the reasons for all the fuss is that there are only about 1,800 West Indian manatees left in the world. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has included them on the endangered species list.
Many manatees have been killed or injured by boat propellers. The manatee flown to Florida is no exception.
``This animal did have some scars,'' Malis said. ``I think it teaches us a lesson that it is an endangered species because of the activities of man.''
Celebrities like singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett have drawn attention to the plight of the manatee, also known as a sea cow.
The Coast Guard's Taylor noted Thursday that this week's mission isn't the first to involve marine mammal transports.
``Just last month we brought by helicopter a sperm whale and dolphin from Oceana up to the Baltimore aquarium,'' he said.
Two years ago, an Elizabeth City crew made headlines by rescuing a beached whale on Virginia's Eastern Shore.
``To save a manatee - it is something that is exciting and something new,'' Taylor said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The crew secures ``Herc,'' a manatee rescued from the Bay, before
Wednesday's flight from Baltimore to Orlando.
by CNB