NORFOLK, Va. (EXIT) – Talk about a special pleasure.
A “big boy” manatee was spotted this week in the Lafayette Branch of the Elizabeth River in Norfolk. A viewer sent him a video of the manatee Report from WAVY! showing that she pulls her nose out of the water on Sunday.
While it’s not entirely unusual to see manatees in local waters during the summer, this is the first official sighting since 2022, according to Casey Shaw with the Elizabeth River Project. This is when manatees were seen in the Elizabeth River near Nauticus. This sighting happened just days after it was a manatee spotted near the Newport News Seafood Industrial Park.
Manatees, also known as manatees, are an endangered species commonly found in Florida. Although when waters elsewhere warm, manatees will head north to the East Coast, usually to North Carolina, and west to places like Louisiana.
Recently, there have been two manatee sightings in local North Carolina waters, one in Wanchese and one near Cape Hatteras Coastal Station, according to the North Carolina Aquarium. The annual average for sightings in North Carolina waters over the past five years is 11, usually from May to November.
“But each time and they’ll go a little farther north,” Shaw said. “… they have been seen as far north as Massachusetts. So it’s one of those things as we’re seeing temperatures rise, species are expanding their range further north.”
Shrimp are another marine species on the move. In the past, when you heard shrimp, you thought of waters off North Carolina and further south, but now shrimp are also in the Elizabeth River, Shaw says.
“Here they are in the Elizabeth River. It’s common now. Even offshore they are now getting permits to fish for shrimp commercially.
In the meantime, Shaw says if you happen to see a stranding on the site, call the Virginia Aquarium’s Stranding Response Team at (757) 385-7575. of OBX Marine Mammal Trap Net there is also an online form in addition to its phone line: 252-455-9654.
“Their lockdown response team will definitely want to know about the sighting and that they’re here in the area.”
Shaw says boaters should be especially aware of turkeys out on the water.
Manatees are not like the dolphins we are used to seeing in the Elizabeth River..while the dolphin will play on your bow, play around your boat, they are fast swimming – manatees are not. They are much slower, not as maneuverable in the water. You know we have fondly heard them called ‘manatees if you will’”.
“So just be aware that we’re seeing these spots in the area. Keep an eye out. Go slow. Because manatees, unlike dolphins, are much more vulnerable to propeller strikes because they’re not as maneuverable.
Shaw says it’s also exciting to see manatees in the Elizabeth River, which were essentially left to die just decades ago. Now, partly thanks Elizabeth River Projectthe waters not only have dolphins and manatees, but also seahorses and restored marsh habitats on many shores.
“We have been working on the Elizabeth River Project for 30 years now to restore the health of the urban river. During that time, the river was dismissed as dead in the 90s. It would be an industrial highway… but now with the largest naval base in the world, we have dolphins swimming, seahorses are common.”
One of the big things that has helped clean up the river was the River Star Homes program that started in 2001, Shaw said. More than 6,500 homeowners around the river have pledged to reduce their fertilizer use, pick up pet waste and more to reduce harmful bacteria and prevent algal blooms.
And one element of restoration in particular that helps manatees, herbivores that feed on underwater sea grasses, is the bloom of “songs on the edge.”
“[The Elizabeth River’s] there’s never historically been underwater grasses, that’s not something that’s part of the habitat here like you’d see on the East Coast. But this cow that we got video of, he seemed to be up in one of those edge marshes, he or she, so he could have been messing around with our native spartina grass.”
WAVY’s also reached out to the Virginia Aquarium to get their latest on the manatee sightings and will update this story when we hear back.
You can also learn more about the Elizabeth River Project and its new $8 million Ryan Resiliency Lab here.
#manatee #Lafayette #River #Norfolk
Image Source : www.wavy.com