A sad manatee with a happy ending.

Injured manatee being attended by the vet at the zoo.

She's cleaning his flipper that was tangled in a crap trap.

Sad face.

The manatee gets a back rub.

On a recent trip to the Lowry Park zoo I happened to stop by the manatee exhibit just in time. They had raised the platform on one of the hospital tanks and was cleaning an injured manatee's flipper. Tangalee (there's so many injured manatees that I'm sure they get tired of coming up with names for them) had been at the zoo manatee hospital for a couple of weeks. She was found with a crab trap rope tangled around her flipper. It had cut into the flipper and done some damage but thankfully she didn't have to lose the flipper. She will be released in about 2 months. I see those crab trap buoys floating all over Tampa bay but I never thought that the manatees could get tangled in those. It happens quite often. If you stop by the zoo in the next few months, stop by the manatee hospital. You can see Tangalee's name on the board which shows you which tank he's in.