{"id":474261,"date":"2026-02-12T03:52:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T03:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/474261\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T03:52:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T03:52:09","slug":"florida-manatee-gets-stuck-in-storm-drain-while-seeking-warmth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/474261\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida manatee gets stuck in storm drain while seeking warmth"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Animal<\/a> <\/p>\n

Animal rescue crews in Florida saved a 410-pound manatee after he became trapped in a storm drain. The animal was lifted out of the drain and transported to SeaWorld.\u00a0<\/p>\n

MELBOURNE BEACH, Flo. – Many people in Melbourne Beach, Florida,<\/a> came together to safely rescue a young manatee <\/a>that was trapped inside a storm drain on Monday.<\/p>\n

The male manatee<\/a> got stuck after seeking warmth from the recent freezing cold temperatures in Florida<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

A 410-pound manatee was safely removed from a storm drain in Melbourne Beach, Florida.\u00a0<\/p>\n

(UF VETS Animal Technical Rescue & Disaster Response\u00a0 \/ FOX Weather)<\/p>\n

While working on a routine survey for a stormwater assessment project, a crew from Haley Ward, Inc.<\/a> was surprised to find the 410-pound animal trapped inside the storm baffle box, a structure designed to remove sediment, debris and trash from stormwater.<\/p>\n

VIDEO CAPTURES DOZENS OF MANATEES SEEKING REFUGE IN TOASTY WATERS OF FLORIDA<\/a><\/p>\n

The crew immediately contacted Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission<\/a> (FWC) to begin the professional rescue response.<\/p>\n

Within minutes, FWC, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service<\/a>, Brevard County Fire & Rescue<\/a>, Brevard County Emergency Management<\/a>, UF Vets Animal Technical Rescue Team, Melbourne Beach Police Department<\/a> and other local officials arrived at the scene.<\/p>\n

For hours, the crew worked to save the juvenile animal. Photos taken by UF Vets Animal Technical Rescue Team showed the team removing the storm cover and using a flashlight to find the manatee.<\/p>\n

FLORIDA COLD WEATHER MEANS ITS MANATEE CUDDLING TIME IN THE SPRINGS<\/a><\/p>\n

As the rescue continued, the team started drilling into the road to widen the opening \u2014 eventually cutting through asphalt to access the pipes in order to safely remove the animal.<\/p>\n

By 9 p.m. that evening, the manatee was lifted out of the storm drain and transported to SeaWorld<\/a> for observation and rehabilitation.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

A juvenile manatee was rescued by numerous municipalities after getting trapped inside a storm drain in Florida.<\/p>\n

(Brandi, UF VETS Animal Technical Rescue & Disaster Response \/ FOX Weather)<\/p>\n

According to FWC, responders noted that during the initial onsite assessment, the juvenile was underweight and had multiple open wounds on his underside near the tail and flippers.<\/p>\n

However, during his first night in care, the manatee showed interest in food.<\/p>\n

HOW TO WATCH FOX WEATHER<\/a><\/p>\n

FWC is now reminding residents that if they see an injured, distressed or dead manatee to call the FWC wildlife alert hotline at 1-888-404-3922. That call may save an animal\u2019s life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Animal rescue crews in Florida saved a 410-pound manatee after he became trapped in a storm drain. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":474262,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,128,338],"class_list":["post-474261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=474261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/474262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=474261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=474261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=474261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}