Oct 12, 2008 4:30 pm US/Eastern
Manatee Dies While Traveling To Florida
DENNIS (WBZ) ―
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Wildlife officials decided to pull Dennis out of the water on Saturday amid concerns about his health in the frigid Cape waters.
WBZ
The manatee rescued from the cold Cape waters has died while en route to Florida.
Sea World officials say "Dennis" died sometime during the 20-hour ride.
The juvenile male manatee wandered into Sesuit Harbor in Dennis last week. Wildlife officials decided to pull him out Saturday amid concerns about his health in the frigid Cape waters.
Manatees are normally found off Florida and Georgia, where water temperatures are in the upper 70s. Waters in the Cape are currently around 64 degrees. Manatees stop feeding if they get too cold.
Four experts from Sea World flew up from Florida to lead the rescue. With the help ofÂ
International Fund for Animal Welfare officials, crews used boats to trap the animal in a net and hoisted him onto a barge. He was then moved by forklift to a truck as dozens of onlookers clapped.
Dennis was supposed to go the Sea World where he was going to be nursed back to health and then released back into the wild.
The exact cause of Dennis' death is not yet known.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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