THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, August 23, 1996               TAG: 9608230108
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:   34 lines

ANOTHER CHESSIE SIGHTING? PERHAPS

Crabbers along the Elizabeth River may be the latest people to spot Chessie, the wayward manatee that likes to head north during the summer.

Crabbers said they saw a large sea animal wearing a radio-tag harness on Sunday.

Chessie, weighing about 1,200 pounds, is probably the only tagged manatee north of Georgia, said the Sirenia Project, which monitors manatees for the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Chessie lost a radio transmitter used to track it by satellite on July 10. At that time it was near Beaufort, N.C. About two weeks ago a sea animal matching Chessie's description was spotted in the Chesapeake Bay.

A Marine Animal Rescue team from the National Aquarium in Baltimore searched for Chessie by air and water was unable to confirm the sighting.

Chessie may be headed back to Florida, the Sirenia Project said.

Chessie leaped to prominence in 1994 when it became the first confirmed manatee to enter the Chesapeake Bay. That year, it was flown back to Florida when the bay's water cooled.

Last year, Chessie was spotted as far north as Rhode Island before swimming south on its own.

Up to 2,000 manatees live along the United States, most off the Florida coast. Some migrate as far north as the Carolinas in the summer, but they usually stick to southern seas because they cannot live long in cold temperatures.

KEYWORDS: CHESSIE MANATEE by CNB