Mar 15, 2007 7:52 pm US/Eastern
"River" & "Sparky" The Manatees Return To The Wild
Check Out The Link Below To Track The Manatees
Both Sea Cows Were Nursed To A Healthy 900 lbs.
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VIRGINIA KEY (CBS4) ―
Two rescued manatees, which have been nursed back to health, were returned to the wild Thursday.
"River" and "Sparky" were released near Blackpoint Marina in a joint effort by the Miami Seaquarium and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Manatee Recovery Program. "River" was rescued in September of 2004 from the Little River in Miami. Officials believe he was possibly separated from his mother by a flood gate. River was a small orphan and weighed only 70 pounds when he was rescued and was losing more weight. He was bottle fed for two years by the caring staff at the Miami Seaquarium. "River" currently weighs almost 900 pounds and is fully recovered.
"Sparky" was rescued as a one-year old orphan from the waters around the FPL Power Plant in Port Everglades in March of 2005. When he arrived at the Miami Seaquarium, he weighed only 50 pounds and was extremely emaciated. The staff nursed him back to health and now he weighs 900 pounds.
Both "River" and "Sparky" are being released back to the wild with monitoring devices to allow specialists to continually check on their health and well-being.
But specialists aren't the only ones who can check on the health and well-being of "River" and "Sparky", so can you.
With the help of those special satellite monitoring devices, anyone can log in to
www.wildtracks.org and track the manatees in the wild.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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