Rescue Planned For Manatee In Trinity Bay

Nineteen years after the Houston area's last manatee drama, authorities are preparing to try to rescue one of the endangered sea mammals before it perishes in the chilly waters of Trinity Bay. A Chambers County sheriff's deputy spotted the 10-foot-long male manatee heading up a channel near NRG's Cedar Bayou plant in Baytown. The animal cannot survive in the cooling bay waters, which are now heading below 68 degrees, the minimum temperature manatees can cope with. NRG officials said the energy company has worked to contain the animal while the rescue operation is organized. In the rescue operation, divers will attempt to place a net around the manatee and tow him to the water's edge. According to Erfling there have been sightings of this same animal, which "normally winters in Tampa." and the eventual plan would be to return him there.