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See Manatees at the Miami
Seaquarium
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Manatees
at Miami Seaquarium
View as many as a half-dozen
manatees featured in the park's 90,000 gallon Celebrity Pool,
which has both above and underwater viewing. Manatee education programs
are presented at the pool several times daily.
Since the early 1970s, the Miami Seaquarium has participated
in the recovery and rehabilitation of more than 65 manatees. It also
houses the most prolific manatee breeding colony in the U.S.
One of the Seaquarium's most famous residents was "Sewer
Sam," a manatee
that managed to wedge itself in a storm drain for several days before rescue.
Sewer Sam’s recovery, which included a diet of 100 pounds of iceberg
lettuce daily, lasted almost two years.
Stories about Sam appeared all over the world, but what cinched his
lasting fame was his filmed release by underwater
pioneer Jacques Cousteau.
Before being
freed,
Sam was taken to Crystal River and allowed to readjust to the wild. Once
set free, Sam at first was reluctant to leave.
When Sam
did depart
after
a few days, he was never seen again. Cousteau's "Undersea World" program
on manatees was one of the first to focus on the manatees' plight.
Miami Seaquarium has demonstrated just how long manatees can live
in captivity. It’s oldest resident was Juliet, a resident since
the 1950s. Juliet remained sexually active in her advancing years,
including a healthy calf in March,
1993.
A few months after giving birth, Juliet helped nurse another baby
manatee, this
one at La Parguera, Puerto Rico.
A half-cup of Juliet's milk was airlifted from Miami to Puerto Rico to
help an orphaned calf fight off a severe infection.
The milk, with its
normal
antibodies for fighting off infection, was intended to be mixed with antibiotics in
a special formula and fed to the sick calf seven times daily.
Over the years, Seaquarium researchers have found that the manatee's
immune system is more developed than for most animals.
"It is for this reason that manatees
are able to survive swimming in bodies of water like the Miami
River," explained
a marine park veterinarian.
Contact info:
Miami Seaquarium is located at 4400 Rickenbacker Causeway, Virginia
Key. Open daily 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Call (305) 361-5705. www.miamiseaquarium.com
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