Kale Yeah! Manny-T The Manatee’s Road To Recovery Included LOTS Of Veggies

Featured Image Credit: Atlantis Paradise Island
By Laura O’Brien

Atlantis Paradise Island is a Bahamian luxury destination and happens to be the only such resort that boasts its own Animal Rescue & Care Facility which contains full-time professionals including veterinarians as well as marine mammal specialists. A manatee, who is now named Manny-T, was fortunate that the organization was prepped and ready to help him in his time of need. Manny-T was found in late September, and staff from the Atlantis Animal Rescue & Care Facility responded to the call. Manny-T was malnourished and very thin (for a manatee) when the rescuers arrived.

Image Credit: Atlantis Paradise Island

The manatee weighed only 365 pounds upon his arrival at the resort, but the team was sure to feed him lots of greens. Manny-T ate 44 heads of kale, 144 heads of romaine, and four whole bags of spinach every single day. The Bahamas even ran out of kale due to his massive appetite! The director of mammal operations, Ryan Dean, said that the staff created an apparatus that fed Manny-T underwater to simulate how he would eat in the wild.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, as well as the U.S. Geological Survey, used Manny-T’s scar pattern to determine that the manatee originally came from Tampa, Florida before he made his way to the Bahamas. Manatees are known to migrate, but Manny-T may have migrated further than is usual for manatees due to the powerful hurricane Irma that pummeled Florida last year.

Manny-T gained lots of weight during his stay in the facility and was 840 pounds when he was cleared for release this January. He was released back into the water on the morning of January 9th, and staff at the Atlantis say that he has been thriving ever since!

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