Jan. 19, 1997

Sea World taking care of Blue Spring manatee

By DINAH VOYLES PULVER From Our West Volusia Bureau

ORANGE CITY -- While the other manatees at Blue Spring are trying to stay warm this weekend, one named Bertram is taking it easy at Sea World.

The injured manatee still is under observation by the Sea World marine mammal rescue team that picked him up from the spring run at Blue Spring State Park more than a week ago.

"They say he's doing well," said park ranger Wayne Hartley, who first alerted authorities that Bertram seemed to be sick. "The X-rays were negative and the boat strike appeared to be healing well," Hartley said.

The manatee was constipated, Hartley said. "He had eaten a whole bunch of bark and twigs and stuff off the spring run bottom."

Sea World is still running tests to see if there's anything else wrong with Bertram. They're curious about why he would be eating "junk food" instead of the water grasses manatees usually eat.

Meanwhile, Bertram is among old friends. The 5-year-old manatee was handraised at Sea World. He was released back into the wild more than a year ago.

Bertram is one of 92 manatees seen at the spring so far this winter. Last year's 94 was a record high. The same number of new calves have been spotted this year as last year, 8.

Hartley's hoping this weekend's cold snap will drive a record number of manatees into the spring run's warmer waters.

He identifies the manatees by scars and marks on their hides.

One of the manatees is a mystery for Hartley. It's a large adult he's never seen before and it isn't shown in the statewide catalogue of manatees. However, a manatee observers may have taken a slide of the manatee and it just hasn't been catalogued yet, he said.

Today the Florida Marine Research Institute will conduct a statewide manatee count. Researchers and biologists across the state will conduct flyovers and visual observations.

A survey last winter recorded a population of 2,639 manatees. That's the highest count ever. But, manatee deaths last year also reached an all-time high, 415.

Microorganisms that cause red tide were blamed for 151 deaths, 204 manatees died from natural causes and 60 were killed by boats.

Eight manatee deaths were reported in Volusia County last year and three in Flagler County.