Oct. 29, 2009 (United Press International) -- A wandering manatee rescued from the warm outflow of a New Jersey oil refinery returned to Miami on a Coast Guard plane Thursday.
Ilya was taken to a temporary home at the Miami Seaquarium, The Miami Herald reported. The manatee will remain there several weeks to put on weight and recover from cold-water stress.
Weighing in at 1,100 pounds and about 9 feet long, Ilya was a substantial piece of air cargo. He was trapped Tuesday at the ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Bayway Refinery in Linden, N.J., and taken to the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine near Atlantic City.
"It took about 30 people, and a crane, and a huge, long net,'' said Maya Rodriguez, a Seaquarium veterinarian involved in the rescue.
Ilya, who was tagged almost a decade ago, has had a wandering summer, taking him as far north as Massachusetts. He was spotted in Maryland and off Nantucket Island and at several places in between.
Robert Rose, a Seaquarium curator, said manatees are migratory mammals. He said they may be wandering farther because efforts to protect them there are more of them in Florida waters.
