Manatees in the Hudson and in Long Island Sound
I haven’t heard anything further about the manatee that’s been seen in the Hudson River, but I just learned that when I wrote this morning that “Obviously a manatee in the Hudson is extremely rare, if not unprecedented,” I was half right.
They are extremely rare, but they are not unprecedented.
Steve Stanne, of the New York State Hudson River Estuary Program, told me that a young man named Dan Zinder, who is working on the Hudson under the auspices of the Student Conservation Association, found a website that refers to a previous visitor, a manatee dubbed Chessie that in 1995 was tracked north through New York Bay and past the Statue of Liberty (that is, through the Hudson River estuary), through Long Island Sound and as far east and north as Point Judith, in Rhode Island, where it was seen on August 16, 1995.
Here he encountered cooler water and turned around to return to the warmer waters of Long Island Sound. His radio tag broke free on 22 August in New Haven, Connecticut, but public sightings were received as he continued his journey south.
They are extremely rare, but they are not unprecedented.
Steve Stanne, of the New York State Hudson River Estuary Program, told me that a young man named Dan Zinder, who is working on the Hudson under the auspices of the Student Conservation Association, found a website that refers to a previous visitor, a manatee dubbed Chessie that in 1995 was tracked north through New York Bay and past the Statue of Liberty (that is, through the Hudson River estuary), through Long Island Sound and as far east and north as Point Judith, in Rhode Island, where it was seen on August 16, 1995.
Here he encountered cooler water and turned around to return to the warmer waters of Long Island Sound. His radio tag broke free on 22 August in New Haven, Connecticut, but public sightings were received as he continued his journey south.
posted by Tom Andersen at 2:24 PM
4 Comments:
This was Chessie's second foray to the far north. I believe the previous year the manatee made it into the Chesepeake Bay, hence his name.
I believe this was Chessie's second foray north. The first time, I believe the year before it came to Long Island Sound, the manatee was in the Chesepeake during the summer, hence its name.
That is way cool ... I used to see them quite a bit near Bradenton and Tampa, Florida.
The propeller scars on the backs, though, were quite depressing.
To see a mother manatee with her baby, though, was awesome. Vegetarians, they are. /sam
Hi its Trisha yes growing up in Cliffside Park NJ and Edgewater NJ is a few minutes away right on the water the hudson river occasionally has manatee that come in. The hudson is brackish water (salt and fresh) its great to hear that they grace the waters!!
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