Endangered sea creature gets rescued for second time in Florida, officials say

An endangered manatee found living with a hook in its mouth has a history of getting into jams, Florida officials say.

The 4-year-old was captured in Blue Springs Tuesday, April 22, with a fishing lure pinned to her lip, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reported in an April 23 Facebook post.

“Our team safely removed the lure, completed a health assessment, equipped her with new tracking gear (including a breakaway satellite tag), and she was released!” FWC officials wrote.

It was discovered this particular manatee has spent most of her life being poked and prodded by humans.

Calliope, as she is known, was found orphaned in 2021 in Cayo Costa, FWC says. She was too young to survive on her own, so Calliope spent the next three years being raised at zoos, including Zoo Tampa at Lowry Park.

Her saga proved to be an inspirational tale of “survival and resiliency,” Zoo Tampa said at the time of her release in February 2024.

“Calliope arrived in April 2021 ... with her umbilical cord and partially attached and weighing 63.5 pounds,” Zoo Tampa wrote in at the time of her release. “She gained 857 lbs. during her rehabilitation.”

That means Calliope weighed at least 920 pounds when freed 14 months ago at Three Sisters Springs in Citrus County.

Average size for adults is about 10 feet in length and “around 1,000 pounds,” though some manatees have been known to reach 13 feet and more than 3,500 pounds, FWC says.

Manatees are an endangered species, with about 8,350 known to survive in Florida’s waterways, the state says.

This story was originally published April 24, 2025 at 3:09 PM with the headline "Endangered sea creature gets rescued for second time in Florida, officials say."