Manatee Spotted in Stony Brook Harbor

A family tells Newsday that they spotted a manatee while fishing at Smithtown town park on Long Island. The family is pretty certain, because they had lived in Florida for two years where they saw the large mammals all the time. Tara Inzone said, "I was untangling my line at the end of the dock and I heard a spouting sound -- a psffft. I looked over and I said 'What the hell is that?' My husband said 'It's a dolphin.' I said 'That's not a dolphin. Look at how wide it is.' I thought it was a whale at first. Then its tail came up -- and it was a manatee tail. It was wide and distinctive." The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says it's "not uncommon to see them pretty far up the East Coast," as manatees will chase the food supply. The last time a manatee was spotted in these parts, it was two years ago in the Hudson River.

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By Jen Chung in News on August 22, 2008 8:05 AM

Comments [rss]

dbc

@ zodak

I know, but they look pretty similar.

zodak

dbc it's a manatee not a walrus.

"I was out there last week knocking a couple Manatees over the head with my club"

Think2wice

It'd be as alien as parrots in Brooklyn, but nonetheless cute to see Manatees suddenly populating Long Island's ocean-side lagoons (including Jamaica Bay).

dbc

Did it have a bucket?

yetanotherdamneduselessaccount

Maybe these are the tourists we've heard about that were supposed to flock to the East River to see the waterfalls?

amsci

I love them sea cows, but how sailors mistook them for mermaids I'll never know. It must get REALLY lonely at sea.

Kojak

I was out there last week knocking a couple Manatees over the head with my club, but its not as satisfying as clubbing baby seals.

chris

They're ugly and don't taste good, save your harpoonin' for some dolphins or a pilot whale.

WestVillageVintage

@Peter

Harpoon!!! How evil! They are so cute! There are many of them down here where I'm at on vacation - Cape Canaveral. They probably got sick of the 24 inches in 3 days of rain from Tropical Storm Fay.