Watch: Rescuers Save 19 Manatees Trapped in Drain Pipe

Check out the video at the bottom of this post.

When Satellite Beach residents noticed some of the manatees they were accustomed to seeing in the Indian River Lagoon had disappeared, they knew something was wrong.

While it’s not uncommon for the gentle sea cows to make their way to warmer waters when temperatures fall, something didn’t seem right, Click Orlando reported. Acting on residents’ concerns, city workers from Satellite Beach investigated and came across a discovery Monday that would launch a rescue effort that would continue until the wee hours of Tuesday morning.

It seems that 19 manatees managed to get themselves stuck in a 150-foot-long city drainage pipe, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Facebook page.

See Also:

• Photos: Rescued Manatees Returned to the Wild
• Manatee Confab Breaks Records

Safely recovering that many massive creatures took a herculean effort, the Satellite Beach Fire Department noted on its Facebook page.

All told about 40 rescuers turned out to assist with the job that required earth-moving equipment to execute, Click Orlando noted. Adult manatees are generally about 10 feet in length and can weigh about 1,000 pounds, FWC says on its website.

“It was very arduous,” Satellite Beach fire Chief Don Hughes was quoted as saying.

Just before 2 a.m., FWC announced that all 19 critters had been safely recovered thanks to help from such agencies as the fire department and SeaWorld.

“A ‘Job Well Done’ to the Satellite Beach Fire Department’s Technical Rescue staff who spent hours inside the small storm water pipes underground assisting FWC and Sea World to locate and assess each manatee,” the fire department wrote on its Facebook page. “Thank you to the hundreds of citizens who came to support, and cheer the team during this 10-hour operation. It is this type of support that defines Satellite Beach as the best place to live.”

Manatee migration into warmer waters as winter drags on is well documented. The Citrus County area, for example, has witnessed record-breaking numbers of manatees as of late. Stories about hundreds of the creatures congregating at Three Sisters Springs in Crystal River have made international headlines, as well.

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