THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 24, 1996 TAG: 9602240345
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: MIAMI LENGTH: Short : 43 lines
Chessie the wandering manatee, whose trips up the Atlantic Coast the past two summers gained him national attention, is back.
The young male sea cow has been seen splashing around warm water being discharged by a power plant in Port Everglades.
``He stands out because he's only got one gray scar,'' said Kit Curtain, a researcher who tracks the endangered mammals for the Save the Manatee Club. ``About 90 percent of the animals we see have many scars from boat propellers.''
Hoping to keep tabs on Chessie's future travels, federal biologists quickly outfitted him with a belted transmitter that will be monitored by satellite. In August, marine biologists lost track of Chessie after the manatee lost a radio transmitter that had been tethered to him.
Chessie first grabbed public attention in the fall of 1994 when he was rescued from the Chesapeake Bay, which is considered far beyond the range of Florida manatees.
After he was returned to Florida and released, Chessie again went north when the weather got warm.
In July, he was spotted in Hampton Roads - in the Intracoastal Waterway. A month later, he was seen swimming through Long Island Sound and reached Port Judith, R.I.
Chessie has also been seen off New Jersey and Jacksonville, Fla.
The manatee is an endangered species. Its survival is threatened by speeding boats, the destruction of sea grass beds and the development of waterfronts.
Despite near-record counts of manatee deaths in Florida the last two years, researchers are seeing more sea cows than ever. They counted a record 2,639 manatees during aerial surveys last week, breaking the previous high of 2,274 in January. by CNB