Birthday Preparations Underway for Snooty the Manatee

The oldest manatee in captivity, Snooty mugs for the camera at the Parker Aquarium in Bradenton. He will be 60 years old in July.

Snooty the Manatee holds court in a 60,000-gallon tank at the South Florida Museum’s Parker Manatee Aquarium in Bradenton. He executes a perfect roll, floating on the surface with flippers resting on his chest, before turning back onto his stomach and submerging.

Spotting visitors, the grey whiskered giant swims to the side of the pool and uses his powerful forelimbs to hoist his upper body up on the deck. Not bad for a 1200-pound, nine-foot-long manatee approaching his 60th birthday. Nose to nose with a guest, he sniffs and then probes an outstretched hand with his bristly snout, while angling for attention and a snack.

“He’s a flirt,” says executive director Marilyn Margold, of the museum’s affectionate mascot, who turns 60 in July. Thousands of visitors are expected for a birthday bash on July 19 that will feature wildlife exhibitions, games for kids and free admission to the aquarium.

While visitors celebrate with birthday cake, Snooty will likely nosh on strawberries and pineapple, treats staff reserve for special occasions.

No ordinary baby boomer, Snooty is the oldest manatee in captivity. He was born in 1948 at the Miami Aquarium. When his mother failed to bond with the calf, “Baby Snoots” was sent to the South Florida Museum at 11 months old. He’s lived there ever since, bonding with his human caretakers.

In 1998, the museum’s Parker Aquarium became part of the Manatee Rehabilitation Network. Since then, Snooty has been joined by a succession of temporary pool mates. The facility includes a medication pool and main tank that provides above- and below-water viewing.

Snooty’s tank mates, a trio of rescued manatees being prepared for re-release into the wild, provide stimulation for the elder manatee. Snitch, a young male, suffered severe rope burns on his flippers after becoming entangled in a crab trap line. Joining him are Little Coral and Baby Coral, young females who lost their mother while they were still nursing. All three are continuing rehabilitation here after receiving critical care in Tampa at Lowery Park Zoo’s Manatee Hospital.

“Snooty interacts with the other manatees on a smaller scale, but because he’s so imprinted on humans, he’d rather see what the people around him are up to,” says Margold.

A hydrophone in the tank records the manatees’ vocalizations – delivered in short bursts of squeaks and chirps -- as part of an ongoing research project to determine if distinct dialects exist and whether they differ from family to family. According to Margold, the visiting females tend to be more “talkative” than the males, but Snooty is quick to vocalize when another manatee attempts to snatch his food.

Manatees are also known as sea cows because of their grazing behavior and voracious appetites. The herbivores, which can grow to 13 feet and weigh more than a thousand pounds, consume about 10% of their body weight each day.

That adds up quickly at the Parker Aquarium, where the weekly food tab runs a hefty $1500 per week. The aquarium’s backroom is a veritable vegetable market. Boxes of romaine lettuce share space with cartons of cabbage, kale, bok choy and broccoli.

To prepare manatees for release, caretakers teach them to forage for food on the bottom of the tank, as they would in open water, by using sinking “salad bars” – PVC pipes with notches that hold heads of leafy lettuce.

While manatees in the wild face many threats, humans are responsible for about 30% of all manatee deaths. Boat collisions remain the leading single cause of mortality, but manatees also are killed or injured when they become entangled in fishing gear or get caught in flood gates or canal locks. They’re also susceptible to pneumonia so cold weather is considered another persistent threat. Manatees also can succumb to red tides, harmful algal blooms that release toxins into the air and water.