MIAMI -- Rescue crews spent hours pulling a mother manatee and her baby from a storm drain in a Miami parking lot Tuesday.
The two had been stuck in the drain, located in the Miami Veterans Administration Hospital's parking lot, for nearly a day.
Images: Manatees Lifted From Drain More Images: Manatees Mate Along Shore (July 2004)
The drama began a little before 5 p.m. Monday, when Cynthia Herndon came out to get in her car.
"I happened to hear some gushing from the drain," said Herndon, a social worker at the hospital. "My curiosity prompted me to take a look inside the drain."
Herndon said she was stunned to find manatees in the storm drain.
The pair had apparently traveled 750 feet from nearby Wagner Creek. Along the way, the pipes became smaller and smaller.
"A 42-inch pipe to 36-inch pipe to 30-inch pipe, then to 12-inch, which is why they stopped," said Selma Zolotas, director of engineering for the hospital.
Rescue crews quickly pulled the 1-year-old, 400-pound baby manatee from the hole, but the mother weighed nearly three times that much at 1,100 pounds.
It took hours of work, a water department crane and a forklift to free the manatee.
After hours in the small hole with the big manatee, rescuer Chris Plante was relieved.
"She really stayed quite calm and let us work with her the whole time," he said.
A veterinarian said the manatees were in good shape.
"She is hungry, which is great. When a manatee is hungry that's a good sign," Seaquarium Veterinarian Dr. Maya Manchaca said.
No one was more relieved to hear it than Herndon.
"I was very nervous and a lot of prayers were said. I'm an animal lover," Herndon said.
Within an hour, the wildlife rescue team was at Miami's Curtis Park, about one mile away from the VA Hospital, releasing the mother and baby manatee into the Miami River.
Veterinarians said they are confident the two will be OK in the river.
Manatees are an endangered species. Only about 3,000 are known to be living in waters in and around Florida.
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Manatees Rescued From Drain
