THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 23, 1996 TAG: 9607230263
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEPHANIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 49 lines
Was Chessie here?
The beloved manatee, who has eluded scientists since he lost his radio tracking collar, may have been spotted in the past week.
Sunday morning, a sea cow was seen munching on vegetation and lounging on the banks of a canal in Pungo.
``Our neighbor was on the dock fishing,'' said Kevin Delaney, who lives off Princess Anne Road. ``He called and said, `There's a big walrus in the water.' ''
Delaney and other residents watched the whiskered sea cow chomp on plants, flop into the water, then swim away. The canal connects to the North Landing River, which is part of the Intracoastal Waterway.
But was the manatee Chessie?
There's a chance Delaney spotted the sea cow that has enchanted the public ever since it was rescued from the Chesapeake Bay nearly two years ago, officials with the Virginia Marine Science Museum say.
But maybe not.
Delaney and other residents didn't see the number 46 marking that would have been on Chessie's back, said Susan Barco, a research technician with the Virginia Beach museum's stranding team. Marine biologists made the permanent imprint for identification.
The neighbors also didn't spot a belt that should have been on Chessie's tail, Barco said.
The animal seen Sunday was scarred, but most manatees have scars from brushes with boat propellers.
The sighting was the third in less than a week. Last Wednesday, a manatee was sighted near the Great Bridge Locks in Chesapeake. A manatee also was spotted near Chincoteague at midnight Sunday.
``The timing is right for either one to be Chessie,'' Barco said.
Chessie, a 1,200-pound male, has been missing since his radio collar came off his tail. He was last known to be near the Intracoastal Waterway near Beaufort, N.C., on July 10.
In the fall of 1994, Chessie was plucked from the Chesapeake Bay. The Florida manatee, an endangered species, had roamed far from his normal territory, and scientists worried that he might not survive the Bay's cold waters.
He was flown to Florida, where he was released. But once again, he headed north, stopping in Hampton Roads, the Long Island Sound and Connecticut. After his tour, Chessie returned to Florida in November 1995.
The manatee, who is being studied by scientists, was heading north when he gave them the slip. by CNB