Dennis the manatee died from 'cold stress'

the truck ride killed Dennis not the cold!

Why was he not flown to Florida??? The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has blood on its hands!!!!

You got that right... man killed the manatee.

And for the love of all that's holy, and all that's human, stop naming them! It's a manatee, not a man. You have no respect for anything- neither man nor manatee!

I can't believe we're the same species.

I agree, 1. Why didn't they fly him? 2. Why did they wait so long to start the rescue? 3. From what i heard, he was not even put into a tank on the truck rather had water poured over him. The poor thing.

Bill you do not know that, you do not have access to the necropsy results and you really should be more careful with accusations based on you feelings and not facts. Clearly the whole situation was not handled well, but to point fingers without knowledge is pointless.

I hear they stopped off for a snack at South of the Border - that's what killed him.

Hahahaha!!! The comments and the coverage here is ridiculous!! Why doesn't anyone care about the cows, pigs, and chickens they eat. You're all a bunch of hypocrites.

he could of gone to the aquarium in boston to get rehabilitated and than flown to florida

Even with water being poured on him constantly his own weight would have been putting stress on his lungs to breathe. very similiar to whales that beach themselves, their own weight suffucates them without the bouancy of the water. Not a very sharp operation..

it wasn't the 'snack,' it was the copious margaritas!

I've eaten at South of the Border & it damn near killed me. That posting is the one that makes the most sense.

It would be interesting to read a follow-up story explaining why the rescue was not done earlier and what goes into making a decision like that. Also, seeing this article is from a "blog", I am surprised it doesn't contain web links to other resources readers might be interested in exploring, e.g., manatees, sea world, etc.

This was handled poorly - they should have rescued him sooner and brought him somewhere local first as they said. He could have lived.

What a shame, I was so hoping to hear he would have had a complete recovery. I can't believe they didn't keep him here for rehab. Actually I was shocked to see him lifted and placed in that truck for a 20 hr drive. Common sense would tell you that it would be devastating and a shock to him. It was a very poor decision on the rescuers' part.

Unless one of you poor fools was on the truck or involved in the rescue don't speak because you sound ignorant. I am not a marine biologist and neither are any of you so don't spout factless accusations.

As a marine biologist that works with cold stunned / hypothermic marine animals I can say with 100% accuracy that the best way to bring a cold stunned marine mammal or sea turtle out of its hypothermic state is to do so slowly, by keeping it in modified air temperatures and not in water. Manatees are air breathing mammals. Just because the animal was not transported in water does not mean that the caregivers were negligent. In fact, the opposite is true. They were doing the best thing they could for the animal. It is agreed, however, that a flight would have expedited things and lessened the stress on the animal.

How come those dopes didn't have a hot water heater?

Why are we interfering with nature so much. The manatee traveled here....maybe to die peacefully along the Cape Cod shore. Who/What gives us the right to interfere?

What do you do with a dead manatee?

So this guy Bonde had 30 yrs experience with manatees and "in retrospect" Dennis should have cleared waivers locally before making the trip? This guy should be tared, feathered and dragged through Cape Cod! Something he should have know before slamming the poor guy into the back of a U Haul. I will have a margarita soon and cheers to Dennis. Maybe he left FL for a reason? Too many blue hairs.

I agree...I think his weight on his lungs for all those hours were way too stressful on his body, and I could not understand why he was not brought to the Aquarium also.

I don't think it's fair to point fingers and say harsh things about people who went out of their way to help this animal. Believe me, they had his well-being as their primary interest. Anyone who's talking about blood on their hands is ridiculous. Where were you? Why didn't you help? All you monday morning quarterbacks should have spoken up before the rescue attempt.
And what's that about not being able to name him? Why are names exclusively the property of humans? How egocentric are you??
May Dennis the Wandering Manatee rest in peace. Thanks for visiting!

They tried to get a plane but could not get one fast enough. Manatees have more rigid skeletal systems than whales, there was no pressure on his internal organs. I agree, why didn't they get him out sooner, and why did the trip take 27 hours, when they had originally said it would take 20? Those 7 hours could have been a critical factor in his survival. What were they doing for those extra 7 hours?

WHO CARES

and BTW "Voice of Reason" I have been a vegetarian for 35 years, so don't call me a hypocrite. Your thinking is faulty anyway. One must be perfect or one must be... nothing? Good luck finding perfect people or a perfect world. But it'll give you a reason to be cynical for the rest of your life, I suppose.

I think that it's funny that "tree-huging nature-lovers" close miles of beaches for Piping Plovers, and make laws preventing human interaction with wild manatees, so that we don't upset nature's balance, and then after finding a manatee that swam up north all by itself, those same idiots decide that they should violate those very precepts, and play God. That poor manatee, going where no manatee has gone before............ Can you imagine astronauts being intercepted by "aliens", and then being killed as they try to send the eathlings back home?
Live and let live
Live and let die.

The stress of flying could kill a healty ox!!

:( i am very sad about dennis and so is my friend sidd

To all the folks who thought the manatee should have been brought to the New England Aquarium for rehab before being transported to Florida: perhaps it was felt that Florida facilities, which actually HAVE EXPERIENCE rehabbing manatees, might do a better job.

I don't know why it was transported by truck rather than air, but I don't think that any of the rest of you do either.

Also, one thing I haven't heard mentioned much is that it may have ended up this far north in part because it was already very sick. I heard one radio report that mentioned several serious injuries.

He should have stayed down near Tampa Bay where he belongs!

Lots of great photos of Dennis in Sesuit Harbor on Cape Cod at www.CapeHomepage.com.

If only George Costanza was around....

They should have left him in the Dennis harbor. He had food and he knew how to swim and most likely would have figured it out. Just another waste of our tax dollars. He most likely died from the stress of the rescue - which happens more offten for these creatures. We should let mother nature work this out. This was not the first Manatee to come up to these waters...and I suspect it will not be the last.

As someone who once volunteered at the New England Aquarium in the Rescue & Rehab unit, I can say that whether an animal is brought to the Boston facility is largely dependent upon the space available for that animal. During the time I volunteered, the months of September and October saw the already-small rehab space filled -- if not overflowing -- with cold-stunned turtles that had stranded themselves along the Cape. There would have been no room to rehabilitate an animal the size of a manatee then, and while I don't know what the state of Rescue & Rehab at the N.E. Aquarium is these days, I wonder whether that played a role in why the manatee wasn't brought there first.

It's amazing how all the manatee "experts" come out of the closet when something like this happens. I've got a lot more respect for the people involved in the rescue than any of you experts.
As for using a plane instead of a truck, it was earlier reported that they would have liked to have had a plane, but it would have taken to long to line one up. The decision was made that it was better to move him immediately rather than wait for a plane. And anyways, do you think planes capable of carrying a manatee plus a crew just appear? Plus the cost? Think it thru, folks.
Thanks to all those who participated in the rescue and gave your best effort towards saving Dennis.

Who would have thought putting the Red Sox in the same stadium as the Rays would lead to their demise? Stranger things have happened and who should be tarred and feather for that?

I agree with "wondering". If the manatee swam up to Cape Cod, who are we to interfere with the consequenses? Survival of the fittest...

The transport of the manatee was mishandled. That's why it died. No more excuses!! Why wasn't it shipped in a WARM water environment?

The Bush administration is clearly culpable for the death of this defenseless, noble creature. I believe that Dennis sensed that he was at risk being in FL because of Republican ecoterrorists like Sarah Palin, and he instinctively fled to the more tolerant and diverse climes of the coastal, i.e. blue state, intracoastal waterway aquacommunities of the northeast. Much like dogs and cats sense that an earthquake is about to occur. This is a senseless tradgedy that didn't have to happen. I am outraged, and citizens of the world should be outraged.

How about we take the money trying to save the manatee and help a homeless mother and her kids find shelter?

Really folks, y'all need a bigger problem.
How many of you helped pay for the manatee rescue?

Oh! The Hugh Manatee!
:)

Come on, some of you people are killing me. They spent $10s of thousands trying to save this manatee. Yet everyday thousands of humans starve on this planet, in the US and our own hometowns- where is the outrage?

How do we know that this manatee was not the manatee version of the vagrant, maybe it was a manatee version of the child molester- perhaps it was sentenced by manatee court to die by thermal deprivation.

Oh, the HU-MANATEE.

That Bonde guy is an old windbag who probably spends more time in the office than actually conducting field work. He should keep his comments to himself. He probably has never even seen a live manatee before and he should leave the commenting to the experts who actually go out and conduct the rescues. I have a friend in Florida who rescues manatees and he is twice the man this Bonde is. No really, he's 230 lbs!

I saw "the Manatee" fondly named Dennis after it's destination and was very concerned. The mammal looked like it was in need of help: huddled up against the wall of the marsh in the shallowest possible water it could find. In the ten minutes we stood starting at it, Dennis came up for air only once. This was on Friday. When I returned on Saturday an IFAW rep said it had gone into the creek nearby. I drove to the bridge over Sesuit Harbor creek and saw nothing. Others stood looking. I walked over some of the marsh as far as I could and couldn't see in the water, so I went back to my car trusting the manatee was where they said, somewhere in the inlet. The next morning the caught him and drove to FL.

I think that we should truly do a Dennis Fund because you are all right the animal was transported without being in a tank .Dennis was sprayed by water bottles on the trip which I read in the Cape cod times. I believe this was due to low resources as this same van was the one used to travel to Orleans to help animals there in need after the hurricane and was recently repaired so this goes to show me that the necessary tools to properly rescue a animal maybe are not all there. Can anyone help me start a Dennis fun to raise money for Stranded animals .. I am very passionate about this and thank everyond involved in the rescue and the caring about a poor stranded animal