Sleet and Cabbage arrived at Mote on April 28, 2025<\/a>, after receiving initial treatment at Manatee Rescue &\u00a0Rehabilitation Partnership (MRP) acute-care centers. Both presented signs of cold stress and significant weight loss. Once at Mote, the manatees continued to receive routine medical care to meet the appropriate weight and body condition, a requirement for their return to the wild. Under Mote\u2019s exemplary rehabilitative care, the manatees steadily increased in weight until deemed fully prepared for release by the cooperative care team.<\/p>\nSleet was released in Crystal River on Tuesday, December 9, and Cabbage was released at Tampa Electric\u2019s (TECO) Big Bend discharge canal the following day, Wednesday, December 10. The releases were conducted in partnership with USFWS, FWC, ZooTampa at Lowry Park, Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute, and the Bishop Museum of Science and Nature.<\/p>\n
Over the past several years, Florida has seen unusually high numbers of manatee mortalities due to seagrass loss, harmful algal blooms, cold stress, vessel strikes, and other threats. These pressures created an urgent need for increased holding and rehabilitation capacity statewide. With the new designation as a secondary care holding facility, Mote is answering the call by housing non-critical patients in its expanded facilities, overseeing the final stages of rehabilitation, and preparing the manatees for release.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe successful release of these two patients represents significant progress in statewide manatee conservation efforts,\u201d said Dr. Michael P. Crosby, Mote\u2019s President & CEO. \u201cIt reflects the strength of our rehabilitation team and Mote\u2019s commitment to advancing science-based care that directly benefits this vulnerable species.\u201d<\/p>\n
As part of this cooperative network, MRP partners work together to rescue, rehabilitate, release, and monitor manatees while advancing research and public education. By contributing essential rehabilitation capacity and scientific expertise, Mote continues to enhance Florida\u2019s collective ability to protect manatees across the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium is proud to announce that its first two manatee rehabilitation patients, Sleet and Cabbage, were successfully released back into Florida waters last week following months …<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":23562,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[110,713,84,1068,249],"class_list":["post-23550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mote-news","tag-manatee","tag-rehab","tag-rehabilitation","tag-release","tag-rescue"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMote Successfully Releases First Two Manatee Rehabilitation Patients | Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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