Ilya the Manatee Rescued from Horrible Place Called "New Jersey," Coming to Miami

For the past few days, a manatee known as Ilya has experience a fate worse than death: He's been stuck in New Jersey.Marine scientists have tracked Ilya as he's made his way up and down the East Coast for the past ten years, even going as far as Massachusetts this...

By Kyle Munzenrieder

October 29, 2009

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For the past few days, a manatee known as Ilya has experience a fate worse than death: He's been stuck in New Jersey.

Marine scientists have tracked Ilya as he's made his way up and down the East Coast for the past ten years, even going as far as Massachusetts this summer. But the manatee recently went missing, before being spotted off the coast of Linden, New Jersey, near an oil refinery, trying to find warm water. Scientists feared water temperatures might be too cold for the sea cow to make his way home to Florida on his own, so after a search, they pulled the manatee from New Jersey waters Monday.

After a short stay at the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine, he was put on a plane this morning and is expected to arrive today at Miami Seaquarium, where he'll recuperate from whatever horrible things happened to him in New Jersey.

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