Photos courtesy of SeaWorld
The SeaWorld Animal Rescue Team joined forces with firefighters, public works agency workers and other officials to rescue 19 manatees that were trapped inside drainpipes in Satellite Beach, Florida earlier this week.
According to a press release, the rescue lasted nearly nine hours, with Florida Today's J.D. Gallop reporting that rescue operations didn't end until around 2:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday.
"There were at least 19 or 20 that were rescued," said Satellite Beach Fire Department Capt. Jay Dragon of the Satellite Beach Fire Department via Gallop.
"They were all released back into the river."
After the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission requested SeaWorld's help, the rescue workers were able to safely push six of the manatees through the pipe and into a nearby pond.
Meanwhile, the other 13 distressed manatees had to be lifted from the drainpipe and relocated to the pond after public works agency members successfully drilled through the pipe to provide an opening for rescuers.
The nearby pond empties into the Indian River Lagoon, situated along the eastern coast of Florida.
As for how and why so many manatees managed to get stuck in the drainpipe, officials are pointing to the recent series of arctic blasts that've caused abnormally low temperatures across the Southeast, including parts of Florida. Manatees require warm water to survive, and experts say the manatees undoubtedly gathered in the pipe in search of warmer water.
A water temperature above 68 degrees is required for manatees to survive and thrive.
Although this week's rescue marks one of the SeaWorld Animal Rescue Team's more impressive feats given the quantity of animals and circumstances, it isn't the first successful mission and is unlikely to be the last.
"In collaboration with the government and other members of stranding networks, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment operates one of the world's most respected programs to rescue ill and injured marine animals, with the goal to rehabilitate and return to their natural environment," states the SeaWorld press release. "SeaWorld animal experts have helped more than 24,000 animals in need - ill, injured, orphaned and abandoned - for more than five decades."
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