Stranded Manatee Dies in Colgate Creek Waters

BALTIMORE, MD — An endangered manatee, which calls Florida and other warm waters home, was found dead in the cold waters of Colgate Creek near Dundalk, say state officials, who urged residents to report sightings of such rare marine animals. Experts are still working to determine the manatee's cause of death, but water temperature in Maryland are too cold for such an animal to survive.

The manatee stranded in Baltimore County was reported to the Maryland Department of Natural Resource last week by a resident. The animal was examined by an interagency team of biologists and veterinarians at the Smithsonian Institution. This was only the third case of a manatee death in Maryland.

“With cooling weather, current Maryland water temperatures are well below a manatee’s minimum survival temperature,” said DNR veterinarian Cindy P. Driscoll in a news release. “We are still analyzing samples taken during the necropsy examination, which will be analyzed over the next few weeks. Until that time the cause of death remains undetermined.”

The aquatic mammals are commonly found in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, but in recent years have been found in waters ranging from Massachusetts to Texas, including Maryland. Manatees will head north from Florida to graze on the Chesapeake Bay’s sea grasses, says a blog post by the National Aquarium. Warm summer months prompt the large animals to swim along the East Coast before returning to winter in Florida.

The beefy herbivore can range from 8 to 14 feet in length and can weigh from 440 to 1,300 pounds.

The first live Maryland manatee was documented in 1994 along the Upper Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. “Chessie” was captured in Queenstown and taken to Florida for release a few days later. Since that time, manatees have been reported throughout the Chesapeake Bay each summer. About 6,000 manatees are thought to exist in the U.S.

Manatee numbers declined because of hunting in the last century, says the National Geographic, and today they are endangered. Sometimes called sea cows, the docile manatee is often injured by props from boats or tangled in fishing nets.

The National Aquarium says manatees are listed as vulnerable by the World Conservation Union’s Red List of Threatened Species.

The Maryland DNR's Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Stranding Response Program began in 1990 and has recorded over 1,000 strandings to date. Staff biologists respond to dead stranded marine animals and assist other organizations in live animal response both in the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean.

»Photo of dead manatee found in Dundalk courtesy of Maryland Department of Natural Resources