Manatee in the Hudson River

[MG]

http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti ... /608070370

Unusual Hudson River sighting: a manatee
By THE JOURNAL NEWS
FROM STAFF REPORTS



(Original publication: August 7, 2006)



NEW YORK (AP) — In the heat of summer, all sorts of tourists head north to cooler climes. This year, a manatee has joined the crowd, cruising past the nightclubs of Manhattan and continuing north to Westchester.

The massive animal has been spotted in the Hudson River at least three times in the last week — first off the Chelsea and Harlem sections of Manhattan, then to the north in Sleepy Hollow.

"It was gigantic," said Randy Shull, who said he spotted the unusual visitor yesterday afternoon while boating at Kingsland Point Park in Sleepy Hollow. "When we saw it surface, its back was just mammoth."

Last month, trackers saw the manatee as it swam north, first near Delaware, then Maryland, then New Jersey. By Saturday, it was seen in Manhattan.

Kim Durham, rescue program director for the Riverhead Foundation, a nonprofit group devoted to marine mammals, called it a "bona fide" sighting, but there isn't photographic proof.

It is unusual for one of the creatures — often associated with the warm waters of Florida — to travel so far north, although they have been reported along the shores of Long Island and even Rhode Island.

Manatees are an endangered marine mammal. Florida wildlife experts counted 3,116 in their annual survey in February.

John Vargo, the publisher of Boating on the Hudson magazine, said his alert about the sightings was met with disbelief by some boaters.

"Some were laughing about it, because it couldn't possibly be true," he said.

"I'm 70 years old, and I've been on the river my entire life," Vargo said. "I've seen dolphins and everything else, but never a manatee."

[bravedave]

Chessie the Manatee on a Comeback Tour After 5-Year Hiatus

Chessie first gained fame in the fall of 1994 when he was sighted in the Maryland waters of Chesapeake Bay, considered far outside the normal winter range of manatees. The adult male manatee, now known as Chessie, was captured by the National Aquarium and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and returned by U.S. Coast Guard plane to Florida. Chessie was released into the Banana River near Kennedy Space Center, wearing a satellite-monitored radio tag attached to a harmless, pliable belt around the base of his tail.

[AdamBomb8]

The Manatee is probably just following Buffett on his tour.

[12vmanRick]

damn Bush and his global warming policies

[MacPhin]

damn Bush and his global warming policies

here, here

[thebeachbumm33]

damn Bush and his global warming policies

Let's not jump to conclusions, you know as well as I do there is evidence to the contrary, global warming cannot be proven at this time, you need to wait a good thousand years before science can actually prove that maybe some of those "greenies" were actually right.

[OPHarbor]

Could it be? Or could it just be Jimmy "the Whale" Conti floating around? You know them floaters can get pretty bloated!!

I just hd to go there!

[job41475]

I once swam with a Manatee in a river in Flroida. very cool experience. Didn't think I'd see one up here though....