A manatee has been sighted off Massachusetts’ coast for the first time in nearly ten years, and scientists are eager to monitor its condition to determine if a rescue is needed to prevent its demise due to cold water or insufficient food, as reported on Friday.
This species, which typically resides in warmer southern Gulf waters like those in Florida, was initially observed on July 26 near Cape Cod’s southwestern coast, within Nantucket Sound. Mashpee local Jennifer Sullivan captured video footage of the manatee swimming near paddle boarders in a sea grass-lined inlet behind a marina.
Sullivan described the manatee on Monday as comparable in size and breadth to her paddleboard, noting that it appeared to be “just lazing around there in the grass going as slowly as possible.”
“It was completely unfazed by us,” Sullivan recounted, expressing her amazement, “just in awe of how graceful the creature was and to be so close in the wild to it.”
Subsequently, a few days later, the manatee was found stranded on Mattapoisett’s tidal flats. Bystanders at the scene, who discovered the beached animal at sunrise, helped return it to the water, according to Erin Burke of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries Protected Species Program.
Although the manatee hasn’t been seen since, Burke noted that a rescue team from the International Fund for Animal Welfare remains prepared to intervene if needed.
The species prefers swimming in warmer waters, usually traveling only as far north as the Carolinas. If the manatee stays in water that is too cold for too long, it could suffer severe illness or death, said New England Aquarium Research Scientist Dr. Nadine Lysiak.
Additionally, manatees are herbivores that sustain themselves on extensive seagrass beds and mangroves not typically found in New England.
“Even if it doesn’t experience cold stunning, it may have some health declines associated with not having enough food, not having enough water,” she said. “So it’s important to intervene as soon as it’s sighted again to prevent health declines.”
Lysiak said it’s unclear how and why the manatee found its way so far north. It may have followed the warm water Gulf Stream current system from Florida up past the Carolinas and eventually found its way to New England, she said.
“We have kind of an average understanding of what a wild population does in terms of their range, or their habitat range, and some individuals will go beyond that and maybe wander or seek out other habitats or other food sources,” she said. “It’s hard to know exactly why this manatee came to Cape Cod.”
Manatee sightings are uncommon in New England, but not unheard of.
In 2008 and 2009, different manatees were sighted in Cape Cod Bay — the furthest north the animals have ever been identified. Both were eventually rescued, with one dying on the trip to Florida for rehabilitation. The other survived the trip south, living until 2018.
In 2016, a manatee was spotted off the coast of Falmouth. In 2023, one of the animals was seen in Rhode Island.
Anyone who sees the manatee is asked to document their GPS position and call the stranding network hotline, (508) 743-9548.
Sullivan said she feels “blessed that I could be in the right place and the right time to see the creature,” and she’s hoping it’s healthy and safe.
“I pray he just turned right around and went back south,” she said.
