CLEARWATER, Fla. — Right now, Clearwater Marine Aquarium is constructing a new manatee rehabilitation center.
Once complete, it will be the fourth critical care facility in the state, joining Zoo Tampa, SeaWorld and the Jacksonville Zoo.
Dr. James "Buddy" Powell, chief zoological officer and executive director of the CMA Research Institute, said these additional resources are coming at the right time.
"There's an important need because more and more manatees are in need of rescue and medical care," Powell said. He said that is in part because of red tide.
"There are still manatees that are being hit by boats. That's sort of a constant," he said. "But because of red tide and because of changes in their habitat that are creating issues for manatees to find their food, which is seagrass, more and more need to come in for rescue."
The construction effort is a large undertaking to accommodate such a large animal. Most manatees weigh an average of 1,000 lbs.
Dr. Shelly Marquardt, chief veterinarian of CMA explained, "We have a very special hoist, so we had to increase the weight limit of our hoist. We have to get some new stretcher, new equipment to be able to, like, hold that size of manatee. We also will need lots and lots of romaine because they eat a lot!"
Once the new facility is complete, guests will get a front-row seat to their care.
"Everything we do here, we want to involve our guests and educate," Marquardt explained. "Our goal here is to bring the guest into our medical care and involve them in it. So guests will be able to see all of our manatee rehab areas. They'll be able to see them safely through the windows while the communities are eating, kind of just going about their business."
As with all their animals, they hope CMA will be but a temporary home.
Powell explained, "If we didn't go out and rescue these animals, they would die. So what we're doing is we're helping to give them every opportunity to thrive and survive once they're released back out in the wild."
CMA leaders said the new rehab center is expected to open in the coming weeks, hopefully by mid-June, but it all depends on how the manatees they receive acclimate to their temporary home.