Celebrity Manatee Ilya Survived Florida’s Harsh Freeze

(USGS) Ilya, an adventurous manatee that wandered as far north as Cape Cod last summer, has recently been sighted at several locations around Miami’s Biscayne Bay, confirmed U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) biologists.
After a winter of harsh conditions that led to hundreds of manatee deaths in Florida, Ilya’s survival was welcome news to biologists and veterinarians who rescued Ilya from the dangerously cold waters of New Jersey last October.
“He doesn’t have any new scars and he’s doing really well,” said Kit Curtin, a scientist contracted by USGS who photographed Ilya. “We think he spent the winter in southeast Florida, where the Gulf Stream can have a warming effect,” she added.
Before being rescued from New Jersey, Ilya had been spotted up and down the Atlantic Coast throughout the summer, making appearances in the Chesapeake Bay before wandering as far north as East Dennis, a small town on the northern side of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. His widespread travels made him an aquatic celebrity. Continued

Pictures of Ilya by Kit Curtin, U.S. Geological Survey