Young manatee 'Brisk' rescued from frigid water in St. Pete, transported to ZooTampa

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - State Wildlife officials say a young manatee was rescued from the Bayboro Harbor area of St. Petersburg on Friday. 

A USF student saw the animal appearing lethargic and called FWC. 

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"The individual that reported this manatee out there really saved her life," says Jaime Vaccaro, assistant curator at the Manatee Critical Care Center at ZooTampa.

The staff there named her Brisk, as in cold. That may be an understatement. Recent frosty weather in the area sent her into a dangerous condition called Cold Stress.

"It affects manatees a lot like Frostbite affects humans, and for manatees, they can get secondary infections like Pneumonia," says Vaccaro.

Their skin becomes discolored and there are white lesions. 

"That's equivalent to Frostbite where tissue starts to die off," Vaccaro said.

Manatees need warm water. They congregate at warm places like the Teco power plant in Apollo Beach, and Three Sisters Spring in Crystal River. They don't like temperatures below 68 degrees, and Brisk was rescued from 63-degree water. 

Now she's in an 85-degree treatment pool at the Manatee Critical Care Center at ZooTampa. She's still in critical condition but stable.  

Around this time last year, a different manatee was rescued near that same spot. They called him Burro, for Bayboro. He became among those released back into the wild. 

They hope Brisk can go back too.  

"Anyone who spots any manatee that doesn't look like it should, report that as [quickly] as you can to Florida Fish and Wildlife," says Vaccaro. "In her case, it definitely saved her life."