12-year-old credited with manatee's rescue
May 04, 2011 6:17 PM EDT
LEE COUNTY, FL - A local 12-year-old's kayak, cell phone and quick wit saved a manatee's life. We spoke to the boy to hear how the rescue played out.
Joey LaMountain, a middle school student in Cape Coral, is an avid kayaker with a heart of gold.
"I think I'm the only 12-year-old that's ever saved a manatee," he said.
On a Saturday in March, LaMountain was paddling along the Orange River near Lee County's Manatee Park when he noticed something odd.
"We saw a manatee with a crab trap buoy on its right flipper. Whenever it'd show up for air, we saw the buoy come up too," he said.
So the quick thinking 12-year-old, whose mom is a volunteer at Manatee Park, immediately called FWC's emergency hotline.
He snapped these photos of the manatee and directed rescue divers to her exact location, which was important because the sea cow was in a remote area.
"I basically helped save her life by tracking her with FWC and I'm proud to say that," said LaMountain.
A month later, LaMountain and his mom visited the manatee at Tampa's Lawry Zoo.
"She was recovering well. She looked good and I was happy about that," he said.
And Wednesday, the manatee, now nicknamed Tang-Lee was set free - fully recovered.
"It feels really, really good," the boy said.
Wednesday, FWC applauded LaMountain's quick thinking. They said the rescue was especially critical this year with a record 218 manatee deaths statewide.
Sea cows continue to die every day after last January's cold snap.
"We picked up a dead manatee on Sanibel yesterday that still had lesions and other signs of cold stress," said Denise Boyd, with FWC.
And after packing up from Tang-Lee's release, FWC's next stop was in Everglades City to pick up the corpse of another cold-stunned manatee.
By Sarah Hollenbeck
NBC News
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