New manatee sighting in Masonville Cove!
Above: There have been a surge of manatee sightings in Baltimore recently
(UPDATED to correct some incorrect info we were given from the National Aquarium.)
Unless someone has a very good Halloween costume and swims well, a manatee has just popped up again.
A member of the Baltimore Rowing Club Middle Branch rowing club sighted a manatee this morning at 5:15 am behind Harbor Hospital, according to National Aquarium Stranding Coordinator Jennifer Dittmar.
“The animal swam under the individual’s kayak and surfaced beneath her oar,” wrote Dittmar in an email alert. The manatee then “swam the length of the kayak and hung around the surface near the kayak for a few minutes before moving on,” she added.
We have a comment from a reader who says this was not a kayaker but a club member rowing a single shell.
A map of manatee sightings from the National Aquarium
The aquarium sent Dittmar up in a plane twice in an attempt to spot him/her, but to no avail, according to Dittmar’s email to community groups near the Middle Branch.
This is not the first time a manatee has been sighted recently in this area. See the aquarium’s map of confirmed and unconfirmed sightings.
As a special challenge, we’ll give a signed copy of John Waters’ latest book to whichever Brew reader sends us a confirmed photo of the manatee! Send it to baltimore.brew@gmail.com.
Actually, your first call should probably be to Dittmar at the Aquarium. (The “stranding pager” is 410-373-0083.) These animals can’t handle cold temperatures and won’t be able to thrive here for long. The cold, officials speculate, is probably what killed the manatee whose body was found in April washed up on the shore of the Patuxent River near the Calvert Marine Museum.