Miami Seaquarium Names Orphaned Manatee – Junebug!

Manatee News 8 20 2015

Photo Courtesy of Miami Seaquarium

OK, here’s some great news for you! The final vote is in and Miami Seaquarium names its orphaned manatee – Junebug! This event was in of the Seaquarium’s 60th Anniversary celebration, which took place on June 19th. There were quite a few names given as candidates. They included; Elle, Emoji, Gigabyte, Junebug, and Prodigy. Junebug’s winning name was chosen from approximately 1,000 online voters using an electronic ballot.

Junebug the manatee was observed swimming for several days without a mother in the waters of Outer Clam Bay, located in Naples, Florida. The decision was finally made to rescue the orphaned manatee. And within a short period of time, Junebug was transported to the Miami Seaquarium located in Biscayne Bay, Florida. As of this writing, Junebug weighs in at 86 pounds and she is still being bottle-fed.

In 1955 The Miami Seaquarium opened its doors to the public. And since that date they have rescued and rehabilitated several hundred manatees and sea turtles in distress.

The Miami Seaquarium is part of the Manatee Rescue and Rehabilitation Partnership. These Florida facilities are also included in the partnership; SeaWorld in Orlando, Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, Lowry Park Zoo, and the Dolphin Research Center. However, the only facilities authorized for critical care and the rehabilitation of an injured, sick or orphaned manatee are; the SeaWorld Orlando, the Miami Seaquarium, and the Lowry Park Zoo.

More great news is the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens recently broke ground for a new Manatee Rehabilitation Center! This is excellent news because this new facility will be the first of its kind in northeast Florida that completely focuses on the critical care and rehabilitation of injured manatees!

If you see any sick or injured manatees, please call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at: 1-888-404-FWCC. They are the folks who are responsible for rescuing us in Florida.

Here’s the Save the Manatee Club link to learn more about us manatees …

www.savethemanatee.org

Here’s a cool link for you to learn more about how we’re rescued and brought into rehabilitation …

www.wildtracks.org

~ Kobee Manatee