Groups plan rescue of injured manatee

Wildlife groups made tentative plans yesterday to rescue an injured Florida manatee that has been lingering near the shores of Cape Cod this week.

On Wednesday, several observers watched the 7- to 8-foot-long manatee surface in Sesuit Harbor in Dennis.

The manatee appears to have lost its left eye and has a chunk missing from its left flipper, said Chris Cutter of the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

With water temperatures dropping below 60 degrees, the manatee is unlikely to survive in Cape Cod or make the journey back to warm Florida waters, officials said.

Representatives from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the International Fund for Animal Welfare, and the Cape Cod Stranding Network said they hope to attempt to rescue the manatee by capturing it with a net this weekend.

They are seeking an airplane that can transport the sea cow back to Florida, where veterinarians would rehabilitate it and then release it back into the wild.

Past attempts to rescue manatees from places such as Chesapeake Bay and the Mississippi River have yielded mixed results, officials said.

Never before has a wayward manatee been reported this far north, said Charles Underwood of the US Fish and Wildlife Service's manatee rescue and rehabilitation program.

"It's an adult, so it can handle some stress," said Underwood. "But the concern now is that the weather is going to get worse."

The sex of the manatee is not yet known, but the harbormaster, Terry Clen, calls it "Dennis."

Bina Venkataraman can be reached at bina@globe.com.