Monday, August 07, 2006

In the News: Massive Manatee Is Spotted in Hudson River

Sea life continues to thrive in the NY - NJ Harbor Estuary and with greater frequency large aquatic species are found within the waters of the inner Harbor and Hudson River. This past week a 1,000 pound manatee was observed swimming northward along the waterfront of Manhattan to the disbelief of many boaters and eyewitnesses. While the manatee does not frequently inhabit waters this far away from its tropical home, they have been sited in Long Island and Rhode Island in the past states the NY Times. JB

August 7, 2006
By Jennifer Lee


Added to the chronicles of great beasts that have descended upon New York City in the year 2006 is one that is arguably the greatest of them all. A beast, upwards of 1,000 pounds and a cousin to the elephant, which dwarfs the coyote, the deer and the dolphin that preceded it. A beast that, at hundreds of miles north of its natural habitat, has most likely made the longest and most arduous journey among them. A beast, with a pudgy-nosed face and a sweet-potato-shaped body, that could even be considered cute: a manatee.

Over the past week, boaters and bloggers have been energetically tracking a manatee in its lumbering expedition along the Atlantic Coast and up the Hudson River.

John H. Vargo, the publisher of Boating on the Hudson magazine, put out an alert last week, much to the incredulity of some boaters.

“Some were laughing about it, because it couldn’t possibly be true,” Mr. Vargo said.

The manatee has been spotted at 23rd Street near Chelsea Piers, West 125th Street, and later in Westchester County. It appeared to be healthy.

Read more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/07/nyregion/07manatee.html

Manatee Facts
http://www.savethemanatee.org/manfcts.htm

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