Manatee released after 15 months of rehabilitation
An emotional release took place at Horton Park Wednesday morning when Bellissima, a manatee that underwent a 15-month rehabilitation, was returned home.
Bellissima did exactly what the treatment team hoped she would — swam away without looking back, making a beeline towards the area from which she was rescued.
“We try to release the manatees in close proximity where they were rescued,” said Director of Animal Health Dr. Melissa Nau, adding they want to make sure the animal is familiar with the area and knows where to go when the water gets cold.
The trip from Tampa back to Cape Coral, which Nau said went really well, was a two and a half hour ride for Bellissima.
“She was very calm, settled right into the drive,” she said. “When we put her into the water, she very calmly came off the stretcher.”
Manatees can survive out of the water for short periods of time. During the ride, Bellissima’s skin was kept wet to help her cooling mechanism as she lay on special padding.
Bellissima, which means beautiful in Italian, arrived at the David A. Straz Jr. Manatee Critical Care Center at ZooTampa in very dire condition on March 9, 2021. A hiker found her stranded on Beautiful Island in the Caloosahatchee.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission team and the citizen reporter who found her really made the rescue happen, Nau said, as they had to climb on the island to find her.
“It was a huge effort to rescue her,” she said.
Bellissima arrived in the middle of the night extremely emaciated with extensive wounds on her flipper and body. The manatee was 750 pounds when found, about 250 pounds lighter than a manatee of her size should be. When released, she weighed 1,445 pounds.
Bellissima is at least 10 years old. Manatees have a life span of up to 60 years. Through the photo identification program, Nau said they were able to see that she had had calves in the past.
She said an unfortunate benefit of scars that manatees receive, mostly from boats, are uniquely identifiable through the program. With Bellissima’s wounds, she too is identifiable.
During her rehabilitation, she received daily wound care and hydrotherapy for nearly four months. Nau explained her recovery as amazing, especially since she arrived so sick. A manatee’s resilience is remarkable, she said.
“This manatee release was really emotional to me. She came in in just the worst shape that I really (have ever) encountered with an animal coming into the program. She had a guarded prognosis. We knew she was a fighter and had a really long road ahead of her,” “Nau said, adding that they were not sure that Bellissima was going to make it. “We really worked hard with her day and night. The fact that she was able to be successfully recovered is such a huge win. An incredible feeling.”
The win lies in Bellissima being a breeding-age female that is able to contribute to the manatee population.
“She is such an important animal to return back home,” Nau said. “I don’t know how she survived on the island, but she came to us and was ready to fight. We see a lot of tough cases, but seeing the way she came in and fought through it all . . . resilience from a mermaid creature was really inspiring to be a part of.”