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Lost Manatee Dies on Trip Home

Rescue goes awry an hour from Sea World

By Peter Fearon, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 13, 2008 3:30 AM CDT

(Newser) – A one-eyed stranded manatee who had been rescued from the cold waters off Cape Cod died just an hour before reaching what was to be his new home in Sea World, Florida. The manatee, dubbed Dennis after turning up in the Massachusetts harbor of East Dennis, died while he was being transported south by truck, reports the Cape Cod Times. The cause of death will be determined by a necropsy.

“Everything looked to be encouraging," said a spokesman for the International Fund for Animal Welfare. "But then he just crashed. We all feel like we had the rug pulled out from under us."

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A team of animal experts from the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Sea World in Orlando, and US Fish and Wildlife rescue Dennis the manatee. He died on the truck trip to Florida. (PRNewsFoto/International Fund For Animal Welfare)

Manatees swim at Blue Springs State Park in Orange City, Florida. A manatee rescued from the waters off Cape Cod died on the way to Florida. (AP Photo/John Raoux, file)

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Everything looked to be encouraging but then he just crashed and now we all feel like we had the rug pulled out from under us. - Chris Cutter, spokesman for the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

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Lost Manatee Dies on Trip Home