Washburn The Manatee Off The Grid, Last Seen In Bahamas – CapeNews.net

Local celebrity Washburnthe wandering manatee that was rescued from chilling waters in East Falmouth last fallhas officially escaped from the limelight, ending her months-long news coverage in the Enterprise.

The previously pregnant mammal was due to give birth sometime this spring, and staff at endangered species protection organization Sea to Shore Alliance had hoped to meet the newborn calf using a satellite tracking device that was looped around Washburns tail.

By November, Washburn had traveled from her original release site in Florida's Volusia County to warmer waters in the Bahamas, making her the first tagged manatee to cross to the Bahamas.

She was located on November 26 by staff from Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organization in a densely vegetated area near the island Double Breasted Cay, which is east of Cuba, and found to be behaving normally.

However, US Fish & Wildlife Service biologist Terri J. Calleson reported this week that the tracking device broke off Washburn in late November or early December. The satellite tag was designed to snap off if Washburn were caught on something, to ensure her safety.

Staff at the Bahamas research organization spent time searching for Washburn but Ms. Calleson said the manatee has not been sighted since, to her knowledge.

Washburn has an identifying white scar on her left side, so it is possible that she will spotted in the future; otherwise, her fans may never know whether she gave birth to a boy or girlor twins.

She has certainly been one of the most interesting manatees to be tracked, Ms. Calleson said in an e-mail.

Enterprise readers will recall the ongoing saga of Washburns travels, which began in September when she was rescued off a spit extending from Washburn Island in Eel River by an International Fund for Animal Welfare rescue team, just before waters cooled to uninhabitable temperatures. At that point, she was misidentified as male.

She was then transported to a temporary rehabilitation facility at Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut, where staff discovered that she was in fact femaleand also pregnant.

In October, Washburn was transported to SeaWorld in an aircraft from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod. Veterinary staff at SeaWorld deemed her and her baby in good health, and on November 1 the adventurous mammal was released into Mosquito Lagoon, with more than 300 people watching her departure through a Facebook Live video.

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Washburn The Manatee Off The Grid, Last Seen In Bahamas - CapeNews.net