Shropshire Star

A group of teens helped to get a beached manatee back into the water

Biologists supervised the rescue along with the police department.

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Rescue of a manatee near Tampa

This is the moment a group of onlookers help officials to return a beached manatee back to the water after it washed up off the coast of Florida.

The 10-foot male was successfully relocated but not before biologists photographed and tagged the creature.

It became stuck near to Beercan Island in Tampa Bay, next to the Boynton Beach inlet.

It was first spotted by a man who was fishing off the seawall. He contacted the Florida Fish And Wildlife Conservation Commission which contacted the marine unit at Boynton Beach Police Department for immediate assistance.

Pictures of the rescue were shared by the police on social media.

The department wrote: “FWC then arrived with a team of biologists who took measurements, documented scars for Photo-ID, and inserted microchips in case the manatee is rescued or recovered in the future.

“Then, with assistance from onlookers, they successfully relocated the 10-foot male to the other side of the rocks and wished him well.”

Swim free, manatee.

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