Juvenile rescue manatees Heavy Falcon and Lil Peep will one day make their way back out to open waters. For now, they’re in great hands, as the two will be the first manatees to ever complete a rehab stint with the team at Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters.
“This is a really big accomplishment for Aquarium Encounters and for me personally,” said owner Ben Daughtry. “It’s something that I had talked about before we even built the aquarium. I knew there was a need for this, and that need has done nothing but grown since the aquarium’s been open.”
Aquarium Encounters is proud to become a new member of the Manatee Rescue and Rehabilitation Partnership (MRP), a group of partner facilities that work cooperatively to facilitate manatee rescue, release and monitoring efforts. With continued boat strikes, entanglements and an Unusual Mortality Event (UME) causing record deaths and sending more manatees than ever to critical care facilities like SeaWorld, the need for partner facilities that can house manatees on the road to release has never been greater.
Both Heavy Falcon and Lil Peep are no exception. The two were both found emaciated in central Florida and rescued by SeaWorld – Heavy Falcon is actually a repeat rescue – before being transferred to Aquarium Encounters on Jan. 14. They now have a 26-foot, 12,000-gallon pool all to themselves.
“SeaWorld had 35 manatees, and they were able to release a few and move 10 out, including these guys down here, which freed them up to be able to take more critical care cases,” said Daughtry. “We’re super happy to be a part of the solution.”
Heavy Falcon and Lil Peep currently tip the scales at just over 400 pounds, but must gain another 100 or 200 before they’re ready for release. While that might happen in time for a release window this spring, it might be next year before the pair are ready to go. For now, they’ll continue to pack on the pounds as they chow down more than 100 pounds of lettuce per day under the watchful eye of Aquarium Encounters’ husbandry team.
“The biggest thing is to make sure they’re eating and passing gas,” said Daughtry. “They’re taking it like champs.”
Daughtry is focusing on streamlining the care of his two current tenants, but is already looking down the road for ways to further assist the MRP. With the Keys in a relatively remote location in relation to other rescue sites, organizing rescues and transporting animals to Miami or Orlando within a single day can be an extreme logistical strain. Aquarium Encounters could potentially serve as a stop-over critical care facility to give relief during days that would otherwise pair lengthy rescues with extensive transport times.
“I certainly would look to be a long-term facility as needed, and I would love to be a critical care facility if things go that direction,” said Daughtry. “Whatever we can do to help the system.” The facility’s potential expansion into the neighboring land could assist in its ability to house more animals.
Aquarium Encounters previously sent four staff members to train in manatee husbandry with highly accomplished care facilities such as SeaWorld Orlando and the Miami Seaquarium. Though they have also become involved in rescue efforts here in the Keys, Daughtry said his facility is content to focus on rehab. “We’ll keep our hands full with the husbandry side of things here, and we’re always intending to let Florida Fish and Wildlife and Dolphin Research Center be the front runners on rescue in the Keys,” said Daughtry.
As Heavy Falcon and Lil Peep are temporary rehab animals, they are not on full display at the aquarium. However, visitors will be able to grab a peek at their pool from the boardwalk behind the aquarium’s Predator Reef tank. For more information on the MRP, visit https://www.manateerescuerehabilitationpartnership.org/.
