Advertisement

Necropsy confirms Snooty the manatee drowned at age 69 (w/video)

 
Snooty, the Manatee County mascot, turned 60 in 2008. Hundreds of people came to the Parker Manatee Aquarium to see Snooty at his birthday party. He was the first manatee to have a recorded birth date on July 21, 1948.

 [Times (2008)]
Snooty, the Manatee County mascot, turned 60 in 2008. Hundreds of people came to the Parker Manatee Aquarium to see Snooty at his birthday party. He was the first manatee to have a recorded birth date on July 21, 1948. [Times (2008)]
Published July 26, 2017

Snooty's veterinarian and state officials confirmed Monday that the beloved 69-year-old manatee drowned this weekend.

That's according to a necropsy performed by Dr. David Murphy, the manatee's veterinarian, who performed the necropsy at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Marine Mammal Pathobiology Laboratory in St. Petersburg.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Snooty, world's oldest captive manatee, dies in accident at Bradenton's South Florida Museum (w/video)

South Florida Museum officials said Snooty was found dead Sunday morning after being trapped underwater in his habitat at the Bradenton museum's Parker Manatee Aquarium. A panel securing a 30-by-30 inch opening to an emergency plumbing conduit came loose, officials said, allowing Snooty to swim inside. But he was likely too big to turn around and swim back out.

Snooty was the oldest manatee kept in captivity in the world. He turned 69 on Friday.

The museum plans to re-open Tuesday. Grief counselors will be on hand.

"No one wants to understand what happened here more than we do," said Jeff Rodgers, the museum's chief operating officer and provost. "Something happened to dislodge the panel. We do not know what happened to dislodge that panel."

The last time the panel was opened was 5 years ago, Rodgers said, and divers go in the tank and inspect it daily. That day, nothing was amiss, he said.

The investigation is focusing on how that panel was opened, said museum CEO Brynne Anne Besio.

"At this point we're in a review process and we're looking at everything," she said. "We're leaving no stone unturned. We're looking from all sides to make sure this doesn't happen again."

The museum, which works with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and FWC, has housed 33 manatees through its rehabilitation program. Snooty was donated to the museum in 1949, and officials there said they made a commitment to care for him for the rest of his life.

Communications manager Jessica Schubick said manatees generally have difficulty swimming backward and turning around in narrow spaces. Snooty, who shared a tank with three smaller manatees who were not injured, weighed 1,300 pounds and had an 89-inch girth.

During Monday's news conference, officials were asked what role the other manatees might have played in Snooty entering the tunnel. Rodgers said he would not speculate on that.

"They're curious animals, they get into things," he said, "but I don't want to speculate as to what they might have been doing."

Meanwhile, support for Snooty flooded in from the Internet, where thousands of commenters wrote about their memories and love for the manatee. A petition was launched on Change.org to replace a Confederate monument located outside the Manatee County Historic Courthouse with a statue of Snooty.

RELATED: Snooty the manatee's death prompts outpouring of support, petition to move Confederate monument

Keep up with Tampa Bay’s top headlines

Subscribe to our free DayStarter newsletter

We’ll deliver the latest news and information you need to know every morning.

You’re all signed up!

Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.

Explore all your options

Anthony Pusateri, 29, was born and brought up in Bradenton. His great-aunt was a volunteer at the South Florida Museum.

"I grew up around Snooty," he said. "He was a very well known member of the community. He represents innocence and joy and no political agenda whatsoever. ... (The Confederate statue) represents everything what our country should not be. So I figured why not do two things in one: Have the statue relocated to appease the historians, if you will, and erect the statue of Snooty in its place.

"He has as much to do with the courthouse as the Confederate statue does and it's there in the center of the city for everyone to see."

Pusateri said he was stunned by the response to his petition, which has received more than 1,700 signatures in less than 24 hours. When it crosses 2,000 signatures he said he will present it to Bradenton Mayor Wayne Poston and the Manatee County Commission.

The museum's CEO said they will honor Snooty's legacy through their continued conservation efforts.

"He's been an ambassador of the species," Besio said. "We'll continue that legacy about caring for the environment and caring for manatees."