UPDATE: 10:30 a.m. - A hundred people from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Clearwater Aquarium, and the police department are currently working to resuce two manatees that have been trapped in a New Port Richey canal over the weekend.
ORIGINAL REPORT: At least two manatees are trapped inside a canal surrounding a mobile home park in New Port Richey.
- Manatees trapped in New Port Richey canal
- Manatees are a mother and calf
- FWC said manatees are not in immediate danger
"This is kind of a sanctuary for them because motorized boats aren’t allowed back here,” neighbor Debbie Westerlund said. “I have seen quite a few of them over the winter season."
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says the manatees are a mother and calf.
A few days ago, the city of New Port Richey filled in a berm that had previously eroded away, closing off the manatees’ only way out.
"It makes me feel awful if we kill protected animals, because someone thinks this is going to keep it from flooding, when in actuality it’s going to make it flood worse,” Westerlund said.
Neighbors said they are also angry the city didn’t notify them about the project.
"I am mostly upset because it wasn’t done right,” Parnell Hauser said. “Again, I don’t know what’s right, but it needs to be investigated and done properly."
Some neighbors have been going out on kayaks and dropping lettuce in the water for the manatees.
FWC said it is monitoring the situation. The options are to physically remove the manatees from the canal or try to coax them out through a culvert, though officers don’t think the adult manatee will fit through the culvert. They said they don’t want to physically move the manatees unless they have to, because it stresses the animals.
Right now, FWC said the manatees are not in any immediate danger.
The city of New Port Richey said it had to repair the berm because it had been destroyed by bad weather. It said an FWC officer told workers it was safe to do the repairs.