Palma Sola Finds His Way Home to Salt Creek
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For Immediate Release: December 11, 2003
In the November 2003 edition of the Save the Manatee Club newsletter, we reported on Palma Sola, a rehabilitated cold stressed manatee who was released in February 2003 in Salt Creek, a tributary of the Myakka River in Florida. As you may recall, Palma Sola has been documented with other animals and feeding in local grass flats. This week Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission researchers and Lowry Park Zoo staff captured Palma Sola for another health assessment.
The good news is that researchers found Palma Sola in the warm waters of Salt Creek. This is a critical step for his successful return to the wild, as migrating manatees must find warm water during the cold winter months to survive. Palma Sola made the connection and found his way "home" to Salt Creek. However, Palma Sola also lost enough weight in the past few months to raise concerns. After his assessment, it was decided that it was in Palma Sola's best interest to return to Lowry Park Zoo. Palma Sola will fatten up at the zoo and hopefully, be released in Salt Creek area in the spring.
Palma Sola isn't the first manatee who has returned to a rehabilitation center for additional care and probably won't be the last. However, other manatees have been successfully released after a short "break" and we hope Palma Sola will too. We'll keep you posted!
