New manatee rehabilitation center opens at Clearwater Marine Aquarium

Clearwater Marine Aquarium was already famous for Hope and Winter, who starred in the “Dolphin Tales” movies. Now, Yeti and Zamboni are its newest residents.

They were rescued from cold shock in February and treated at ZooTampa. They are now being cared for in a new tank with a base that can be used to lift them out of the pond for treatment.

The new centre is home to two manatees that suffered from cold stress last winter and will be cared for until scientists believe they can be released back into the wild.

These gentle creatures have faced collisions with boat propellers, cold snaps and the loss of the sea grasses they rely on for food. Three years ago, more than a thousand manatees disappeared from the Indian River Lagoon on Florida’s east coast after the grasses were choked by pollution.

James “Buddy” Powell grew up studying manatees in Crystal River. He is one of the world’s leading experts on mammals and the aquarium’s chief zoologist.

“When we first started working with manatees in Crystal River, there were only about 60 manatees there. Now there are over 1,000 manatees in that area. They have the longest protection period in the entire state. That’s good news,” he said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday.

“The remarkable thing is that the ones on the East Coast have killed over 1,000 in just one year – more manatees than we thought we had in the entire state of Florida when I first started. That shows how fragile their situation is and why we can’t give up on protecting them,” Powell said.

And over time, he predicts demand for his services will only increase further.

Tiffany Burns is president of the Manatee Rescue and Rehabilitation Partnership and director of animal programs at ZooTampa.

“These animals have faced a lot of challenges, especially in the last few years,” Burns said. “The number of animals that need to be rescued has been increasing. And that’s put tremendous pressure on existing facilities. In 2023, there were 80 manatees in western Florida that needed to be rescued. With those kinds of numbers, you can imagine how important these kinds of facilities are, not only for the species, but for the state of Florida.”

Clearwater Marine Aquarium It is one of only 10 manatee hospitals in the state.

They are part of Manatee Rescue and Rehabilitation PartnershipThere are places that use it to treat these gentle creatures, including Sea World, Disney, ZooTampa, Mote Marine Laboratory and the Bishop Museum of Science and Nature in Bradenton, and even the zoo in Columbus, Ohio.

“We’ve gotten to the point where we can do research, conservation and now not just the rescue part that we do at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, but also the rehabilitation part,” Powell said.

“Our facility is now set up to help address some of the demand we’ve seen over the last few years, which is abandoning manatees that need rescuing due to injuries and illnesses. And so we’re very excited to be in this position to help these individual animals and the overall manatee population with our research,” he said.

This is the first stage of their aquarium Rising Tides The project aims to raise $32 million over the next six years.

In addition to the already planned expansion of its manatee rehabilitation facility, the aquarium will expand its facilities to help dolphins, sea turtles and, for the first time, sharks, albino alligators, penguins and California sea lions.

The aquarium also plans to break ground on a new marine rescue center in the Central American nation of Belize. CMA Research Institute has been rescuing and releasing manatees in Belize, which has the highest known Antillean manatee density in the world, for 20 years.

“This is a big deal for Clearwater Marine Aquarium and for us in the Tampa Bay area,” said aquarium CEO Joe Handy. “And beyond that, this has been years of work, we started this project with the idea of ​​filling the gap and providing a rescue rehabilitation center for manatees. And now today we’ve made that a reality.”

“We know that the connection between humans and animals is incredibly important and part of our mission. It is our responsibility to ensure that future generations have the opportunity to appreciate these beautiful and majestic animals.”