Update on Dennis, aka "Tex" September 13, 2007
Dennis, the TMMSN Manatee to be Released Back Into the Wild
Click Here for More Dennis Release Pictures
Original Article and Photo in the Corpus Christi Caller Times - Beth Wilson
It's back to the wild today for a manatee who was rescued in January from the cold waters of the Corpus Christi Ship Channel.
The 7-year-old, 1,050-pound male mammal now named Texas hits the waters of Florida's Crystal River after eight months of rehabilitation at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo.
Texas passed his pre-release physical and is strong, healthy and ready to be on his own, according to a news release from the zoo.
Texas will leave the zoo's manatee hospital about 9 a.m. today and be lifted out of the medical pool by crane and transported by vehicle to Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge. There he will be loaded into a boat about 10:30 a.m. and released into the spring-fed waters. The refuge is home to about 25 percent of the nation's endangered manatee population, according to its Web site.
Texas arrived in Florida after a 24-hour road trip from Texas State Aquarium's Sea Lab in the back of a rented moving truck.
He was pulled out of the cold waters of Corpus Christi Bay on Jan. 3 after he was spotted under a warm-water outflow near a Citgo refinery dock. After a few days in the warm-water tanks at the Sea Lab, crews with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network took the manatee to Florida, where they could better address his rehabilitation.
Officials said Texas was cold-stressed and underweight at 870 pounds. Zoo staff said he likely would have died within two weeks if he had not been rescued in Corpus Christi.
Manatee sightings in Texas are rare, and this was the first such transport. The mammals prefer the warmer waters off the coast of Florida.
Dennis, aka "Tex", the Manatee - 1st Quarter 2007
I had been at work for only half an hour at about ten thirty when I started getting calls about a manatee in the Citgo outflow. This is an area where warm water is discharged from the plant. After talking to our state operations coordinator and officials in Florida, it was recommended that we go take a look and try to rescue if necessary. I called two dependable and knowledgeable volunteers and Dr. Tristan to go see what the situation was.
Well, sure enough, we had a manatee nosed in to the warm water outflow and he didn’t appear to be going anywhere. He also appeared thin and our bay water was much to cold for him to survive in. He would not take the lettuce offered to him. The decision was made to capture and relocate him to the Texas State Aquarium Sea Lab. This was going to have to be a net capture and none of our volunteers had ever done this before. With careful discussions by Dr. Tristan, Citgo officials, Texas Parks and Wildlife, and US Fisheries a plan was hatched. There was a quick list of necessities that had to be on site immediately, including a transport truck (thank you Albert Kessler and Hest Fitness Products) a large net (Parks and Wildlife) and a crane (Citgo).
It’s dark and raining by the time we implemented the plan. David Williams (TMMSN) kayaked the net out and around the animal. The volunteers in the water slowly approached from either side. Once the net was in place and he was
Once we arrived at Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, their staff stepped in.
It quickly became apparent to us that they were experts in handling
manatees, not only with their efficiency, but with the equipment
they had on-hand and the specialized holding tanks. Dennis was
placed in a tank with a very cute, baby manatee that was rescued
from the Cayman Islands and another adult male manatee. After an
initial examination, the Zoo veterinarian thought that Dennis was
suffering from cold stress and was underweight. 
restrained we got the stretcher under him and he was lifted by the crane from the water to the truck. It was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. All these different entities were working together like we had done it for a long time.
After a short ride, Dennis (that’s what we called him) was delivered to Sea Lab. It took sixteen people straining to get him over the side and into the tank. He started swimming slowly on his own right away.
By day two it was obvious to us that the conditions were just too cold and all our efforts to warm him were not enough. It was decided that Dennis be transported to Florida ASAP. The search began again for a truck to take him and several volunteers on a long ride.
After a very exhausting catch, Dennis was loaded into the transport truck under the watchful eyes of the various government/state agencies, the local media, and volunteers. The transport team consisted of Tim Tristian (Vet), Tim Anderson & Pat Clements (US Fish & Wildlife), Heidi Watts, Sara Piwetz, Drew Scerbo, Luke Eckert, Dan Mack, and Ken Brown from TMMSN. Under the glare of television lights, the transport convoy left SeaLab at about 8:10pm.
During our stay in Tampa, the Zoo’s staff gave us the ‘royal treatment’ with back-stage tours and access to the park. It would be a treat to be able to visit them again!
Reports from Tampa say that Dennis, now called “Tex” or “Texas”, is doing well and should recover from his ordeal in Texas. His cold stress spots have healed nicely reports one of the caretakers. She also stated that he is now in a large viewing tank with another rescued male named “Hurricane”. He is still being evaluated for release back into the wild. All in all it was a learning experience for all of us, but one that we hope not to repeat any time soon.
Lea Walker -TMMSN CC Regional Coordinator and Ken Brown -TMMSN Volunteers