A group of manatees attracted quite an audience when they were released after recovering from the effects of red tide.
The red tide killed about 300 Florida manatees this year, ABC 7 reported.
The lucky manatees that were released in front of over 100 excited onlookers were seven of sixteen rescued from the tide.
A rescue team brought the ill manatees to the local zoo, Reuters reported. The rescuers kept the manatees in shallow water and held up their heads to keep them from drowning, they also used flotation devices to keep them above water.
The animals were injected with an anti-toxin and kept afloat. Most of the manatees recovered within a week after the toxins had passed through their bodies.
At the peak of the red tides, officials were finding seven of the marine animals a day, according to ABC.
"You feel empathy for these animals, of course, and there is probably nothing more satisfying than saving a majestic and beautiful animal," manatee guide Tim Martell said.
The natural red algae sometimes multiply for unknown reasons, Reuters reported. It turns the water red, which is what gives it the name "red tide."
The toxic algae are inhaled by the manatees when they come up to get a breath of air, which usually happens about once every 20 minutes. Toxins from the sea plant also get into sea grasses, which the manatees then ingest.
Toxins from the red tide cause seizures and paralysis in the manatees, the animals usually drown as a result.
There has been a more mysterious mass manatee death that scientists still haven't explained; the phenomenon has already caused 85 fatalities.
Red tide was not apparent at the time of the 85-manatee death, but researchers are looking at other algae blooms as the cause. A different type of bloom could have ruined the animal's food source, causing them to starve.
"We're looking at changes in their feeding patterns from the loss of sea grass," Kevin Baxter, spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, said.
WATCH:
ABC-7.com WZVN News for Fort Myers, Cape Coral
Related Articles:
Rare Jellyfish Stings Independence Day Swimmers
Surfer Knocked Out By Whale's Tail
