Manatee gets flipper stuck to face after tangling with fishing lure in Florida river

An unusual water rescue was staged in Florida’s Crystal River after witnesses reported a discarded fishing lure had somehow pinned a manatee’s flipper to its face.

The odd predicament left the docile marine mammal in pain any time it tried using the flipper to swim.

“Our staff received a call Feb. 20 reporting a small, thin manatee in the Three Sisters Springs had a large fishing lure hooked to its face,” Florida Fish And Wildlife officials told McClatchy News.

“It had treble hooks, and one end was in the lip and one had gone through the flipper.”

Video shared on Facebook shows the tangle of hooks and fishing line made one flipper unusable. As a result, the manatee was seen walking along the bottom of the river, using its remaining flipper like a foot.

A rescue was staged the same day, resulting in the 2-year-old female being captured with a net. One end of the fishing lure came out in the process, and the other end has been removed, officials said.

The 6-foot, 3-inch manatee was then taken to ZooTampa at Lowry Park, which reports she is responding well to antibiotics and did not suffer permanent damage. A date for her release back into the wild has not been set.

It is suspected the manatee got tangled with the lure while feeding in the grass or swimming past someone reeling in a fish, officials said.

Entanglement is a common problem for the species, experts say. As of March 1, 41 Florida manatees have been rescued in 2023, including four struck by watercraft and three entangled in fishing and crabbing debris, the state says.

Manatees are native to Florida and listed as a threatened species. It is estimated “a minimum of 7,520 animals” survive in the state’s waterways, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reports. Adults are typically 9 to 13 feet long, and have been known to weigh as much as 3,500 pounds, the state says.

Crystal River, about 80 miles north of Tampa, is a stronghold for the species.

“Crystal River is home to the only national wildlife refuge in the United States specifically created to protect habitats for Florida’s beloved official marine mammal, the Florida manatee,” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Reports.

This story was originally published March 3, 2023 at 7:21 AM with the headline "Manatee gets flipper stuck to face after tangling with fishing lure in Florida river."