Move over sharks. The beloved sea cow is the one getting all the attention in town.<\/p>\n
A manatee was recently spotted off the Cape<\/a>, according to researchers who said it was the first confirmed sea cow sighting off the Cape in nearly 10 years.<\/p>\n The manatee \u2014 a species usually seen in warmer Florida waters \u2014 was spotted at the end of July off Mashpee near Popponesset Bay. The big marine mammal that\u2019s estimated to be about 900 pounds was stranded for some time on tidal flats near Mattapoisett.<\/p>\n The animal was able to return to deeper water as the tide quickly returned.<\/p>\n The International Fund for Animal Welfare reported that they\u2019re\u00a0working closely with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and local partners to \u201cmonitor the situation and assess the animal\u2019s health and behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cManatee sightings in this region are uncommon, and we are grateful to members of the public who promptly reported the initial stranding,\u201d an IFAW spokesperson said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cEarly information is key to ensuring the best possible outcome for any displaced marine mammal,\u201d the spokesperson added. \u201cThe animal was able to return to deeper water without intervention that day and was later confirmed to be active and mobile, but I believe there have been a few more sightings since then.\u201d<\/p>\n The last Cape sighting was in 2016 off Falmouth. The pregnant manatee was named \u201cWashburn\u201d following her sightings near Washburn Island.<\/p>\n She was rescued by IFAW, sent to Mystic Aquarium for rehab, and then she was transported to Florida for release. She was even tracked in the Bahamas.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s rare to have manatees this far north, and the fear is that they will become cold stunned come cooler fall temperatures,\u201d said Nadine Lysiak, research scientist in the New England Aquarium\u2019s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life.<\/p>\n The Gulf Stream is now extending farther north, as the Cape\u2019s waters get warmer. This means an expanded habitat for manatees and other warm-water species, like hammerhead sharks<\/a> and tiger sharks<\/a>.<\/p>\n The concern for manatees in the north is they can\u2019t survive in waters below 68 degrees, and water temps can quickly drop in the fall.<\/p>\n \u201cWe ask that anyone who encounters this manatee or any other marine mammal maintains a safe and respectful distance\u2014at least 150 feet,\u201d IFAW said. \u201cDo not attempt to feed, touch, or closely approach the animal. These actions can be harmful to both the animal and the public, and in some cases are a violation of federal law.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you see a stranded or distressed marine mammal, please report it immediately via text or call to IFAW\u2019s stranding hotline at 508-743-9548,\u201d IFAW added.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a timeline of local manatee sightings:<\/p>\n \u2022 1995: A tagged manatee made it to Point Judith, R.I.<\/p>\n \u2022 2006: A manatee was seen in Buzzards Bay off Falmouth.<\/p>\n \u2022 2008: \u201cDennis\u201d the manatee traveled into Cape Cod Bay, was rescued, but died on his return trip to Florida.<\/p>\n \u2022 2009: Another manatee showed up in Cape Cod Bay, but made her way south on its own. She ended up being rescued in October off New Jersey and brought to Florida. She was named \u201cIlya\u201d and lived until 2018.<\/p>\n \u2022 2016: A pregnant manatee off Falmouth, named \u201cWashburn,\u201d was rescued and returned to Florida.<\/p>\n \u2022 2023: A manatee was spotted alive off Point Judith, and was later found dead in Narragansett Bay.<\/p>\n \u2022 2024: A fisherman reported a manatee off Onset in Buzzards Bay, but it was never relocated.<\/p>\n \u2022 2025: The current manatee showed up last month off Mashpee.<\/p>\n Originally Published: August 6, 2025 at 1:43 PM EDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Move over sharks. The beloved sea cow is the one getting all the attention in town. A manatee…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":125129,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[27],"tags":[4291,76982,32931,7052,2739,15480,159,76981,2415,67,132,68,837],"class_list":["post-125128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-cape-cod","tag-ifaw","tag-manatee","tag-marine-life","tag-massachusetts","tag-new-england-aquarium","tag-science","tag-sea-cow","tag-sharks","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-wildlife"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114985021524551853","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125128\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}