Manatee in Dennis draws a crowd

Bina Venkataraman, Globe Correspondent

DENNIS -- The docks sagged at Sesuit Harbor this morning as crowds scrambled to catch what might be their final glimpse of an intrepid ocean explorer visiting the shores of Cape Cod. Wildlife groups are orchestrating a rescue this weekend for the Florida manatee, affectionately known as "Dennis," that has strayed hundreds of miles from its native habitat.

About 600 people came to gawk and snap photos of the lumbering sea cow Thursday. By 10 a.m. today, nearly 150 eager onlookers had gathered, sporting baseball caps and bermuda shorts, toting cameras and fanny packs. One woman pushed a stroller with a toddler in it out onto a wobbly finger dock and peered into the water. At cafes and marine supply stores, it's the manatee, more than the stock market, that dominates the chitchat.

It is rare to see a manatee this far north in the Atlantic. When the water temperature drops below 60 degrees, the wanderer from the South is unlikely to survive, according to scientists. If the wildlife rescuers succeed, the wayward manatee will be repatriated to Florida, where it will be rehabilitated at SeaWorld in Orlando and then released into the wild.

The commotion over the visiting manatee has turned at least one Dennis resident's life upside down. Terry Clen, Sesuit harbormaster, has kept guard over the manatee. He has been directing boat and foot traffic in the marina to make way for Dennis. All was going well until yesterday morning, he said, when a "Mr. Clean kind of guy" reached over a dock and tapped the manatee on the head.

"I should have arrested him," Clen said. Instead, a selectman scolded the man before he drove off.