Injured manatee rescued in Boynton Beach is pregnant

BOYNTON BEACH — An injured manatee rescued Thursday in the Inter-coastal Waterway is pregnant.
Staff at the Miami Sea Aquarium, where the manatee was taken for treatment, discovered the pregnancy during a medical examination.
A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission team captured the manatee in a side canal about a quarter mile south of the cove at the city's Boat Club Park.
The animal was in obvious distress. Two long gashes on her body were nearly an inch deep.
Fish and Wildlife officials believe she was injured by a boat propeller.
The precarious nature of Florida's manatee population, and the high threat from boaters, is well documented. Last week, the commission reported it had counted 4,840 animals statewide, which actually is up from last year.
The agency credited warmer January weather this year, compared to the catastrophic freezes of January 2010, which killed many manatees.


Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Eliot Kleinberg




Injured manatee rescued in Boynton Beach is pregnant