DENNIS, Mass., Oct. 10 (UPI) -- An injured manatee discovered in a Massachusetts harbor may get an air trip back to Florida if would-be rescuers can trap it.
The manatee in Sesuit Harbor in Dennis on Cape Cod has set a record for northward travel by the species, which generally lives in warm shallow waters around Florida, The Boston Globe reports. But the water temperature is falling, and experts fear it cannot live through the winter or make the return trip.
Chris Cutter of the International Fund for Animal Welfare said the animal appears to have at least two injuries, a missing eye and a damaged flipper.
Cutter's group, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Cape Cod Stranding Network plan an attempt this weekend to use a net to capture the manatee. They are also trying to arrange air transport to Florida.
Manatees or sea cows are distant cousins of elephants that adapted to life in the water millions of years ago.
Manatees are found in the West Indies and Africa as well as Florida, while a relative, the dugong, is native to East Asia.
