BRADENTON — Juneau and Sorbet are settling into their temporary home at The Bishop Museum of Science and Nature’s Parker Manatee Rehabilitation Habitat after completing their first phase of rehab at ZooTampa.
The two young female manatees, both orphaned calves, were rescued last winter. Sorbet, 5 feet and 240 pounds, was rescued from Crystal River in December. Juneau is 6 feet and 335 pounds and was rescued in St. Petersburg in January and diagnosed with cold stress syndrome, which affects manatees exposed to cold water for prolonged periods. Manatees seek out warm water each winter in Florida’s springs and power plant outflows.
Both calves need continuing care because of their age and lack of experience in the wild.
The manatees must reach 600 pounds before they are released, and it may be two years before Sorbet is ready and one year for the larger Juneau, said Michael Winters, manager of marketing and communications at The Bishop.
Manatees are often released in the place where they are rescued, but the locations have not yet been determined, he said.
Turtles have been added to the aquarium to familiarize the calves with other forms of marine life they will encounter upon release.
Visitors to The Bishop can watch Sorbet and Juneau and learn more about the rehabilitation process in displays near their habitat.
Designated Florida’s marine mammal in 1975, manatees were reclassified in 2017 from an endangered species to a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act when population numbers began to rise.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission estimates more than 8,300 manatees in Florida waters, up from around 6,000 in 2015.
To report a manatee in distress, call the FWC Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922).