When wildlife officials and student rescuers pulled an injured young manatee from the waters off St. Petersburg’s Eckerd College in early June, photographs of the rescue quickly spread across social media, and local news reports chronicled the marine mammal’s fight for survival. The weak and lethargic calf was suffering from a recent watercraft collision, shark bites and a severe chest infection.
Less than two weeks later, despite intensive treatment at ZooTampa, the 195-pound juvenile was euthanized.
For ZooTampa Chief Conservation and Wildlife Health Officer Dr. Meredith Persky, the calf’s story reveals far more than the loss of a single animal. It offers a window into the difficult work of wildlife rehabilitation and the growing threats facing the Florida manatee, a recognized subspecies of the West Indian manatee. It’s classified as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act
“Every manatee that comes into the zoo gets evaluated by a veterinarian upon intake,” Persky told the Catalyst. “We evaluate that animal on site … get blood work on it, get a weight, do a full examination, and then we decide a treatment plan for that animal.”
The calf’s injuries were far from unique. Boat strikes remain one of Florida’s leading human-caused threats to manatees, even as calves, natural causes and unexplained deaths account for much of the overall mortality.
Preliminary Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission data show 381 documented manatee deaths statewide thus far in 2026. Calf mortality accounted for 129 of those deaths, while another 94 adult manatees died from natural causes.
Human activity was responsible for 82 deaths, including 70 confirmed watercraft collisions, and another 76 deaths remained under investigation or could not be fully classified.
In Pinellas County, 16 manatee deaths were documented during the same period, including four confirmed boat strikes.
Persky said those statistics represent individual animals much like the calf rescued in St. Petersburg.
“I think he’s a perfect example … a representative of the species,” she said. “His impact on the people that were involved in his rescue, on everyone that was calling to check in on him … he’s a representative of what we’re doing here on a daily basis.”
The calf’s most serious injuries weren’t immediately obvious. Although the watercraft wounds and shark bites were significant, veterinarians became increasingly concerned after observing its behavior in rehabilitation.
“He would take a quick sip of air and then kind of sink to the bottom, even in the shallow water,” Persky said.
Additional diagnostics, including X-rays and a chest tap, revealed pyothorax, a severe infection inside the chest cavity. Persky explained that infections can spread through traumatic wounds, filling the chest with infected fluid and making it increasingly difficult for the lungs to expand.
Treating that kind of infection presents unique challenges in an animal that spends its entire life submerged. “If we have a wound, the doctor says, ‘Keep it out of water,’” Persky said. “Well, these animals live in water.”
Unlike traditional veterinary medicine, many of the tools and procedures used to treat infections or chest injuries in terrestrial animals simply aren’t designed for aquatic mammals. Veterinarians often have to adapt existing techniques or invent new ones as they go.
“We kind of MacGyver medicine,” Persky said. “The equipment and the treatments were not made for animals living in water.”
Even so, she said the team pursued every reasonable option before concluding the calf could not recover. “We don’t know unless you try,” Persky said. “We’ve definitely tried.”
Eventually, the infection progressed to the point that the veterinary team determined euthanasia was the most humane course.
Persky hopes people don’t see the rescue as a failure simply because it did not end with a release back into the wild. The rescue spared the calf from a prolonged death in open water and gave veterinarians the opportunity to relieve its suffering.
“Knowing that we were able to help him along rather than him being out there and suffering, for us, at the end of the day, that’s something that we’re proud of — that we were able to help,” Persky said.
Today, ZooTampa is caring for 24 manatees, including seven significant boat strike cases since January, according to Persky.
ZooTampa is one of four federally permitted acute care facilities in Florida participating in the statewide Manatee Rescue & Rehabilitation Partnership, a cooperative coordinated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Once a rescued manatee is medically stabilized, it may be transferred to one of several secondary holding facilities while continuing its recovery before being released back into Florida waters.
“We all want a happy ending,” Persky said. “And I think that in this case, as sad as the story is, it’s still super impactful.”
With summer boating season underway and calves continuing to enter Florida’s waterways, Persky said boaters can play an important role in protecting the species by obeying posted manatee speed zones, remaining vigilant in shallow water and reporting injured, distressed or orphaned manatees to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922).
Persky reminded Floridians that protecting manatees is a shared responsibility, saying, “We all play a role in that.”