What James Jackson called "little manatee" has made headlines and spurned groups of curious onlookers near the Wolf River harbor Wednesday.
Last Sunday around 9 a.m., Jackson, the man who first spotted the manatee on the Wolf River bank near Mud Island Road, was fishing on the river when he noticed a tail "as big as the hood of that truck" in the water.
"I've been in Memphis all my life and never seen anything like that," he said. "I got out of the boat, it rose up and I just locked up."
Jackson immediately contacted News Channel 3, and within days the aquatic mammal's popularity soared with local wildlife biologists. The Memphis Zoo, as well as Seaworld, has helped in feeding and capturing it.
"Seaworld is bringing up a boat," said Alan Peterson, a wildlife biologist.
Early Wednesday afternoon, nearly 15 cars were parked on either side of Mud Island Road. Visitors and onlookers walked down the embankment and through trees and foliage to be closer to the bank.
Others, with cameras, stood on the side of the road where they were able to see more of the Wolf River and maybe get a glimpse of the surfacing nose, which Jackson saw on Sunday.
Van Harris, a volunteer with the zoo, walked back from his brief visit to the bank with a pair of binoculars. Glancing at the Wolf River through them, Harris said he last saw the manatee earlier in the morning.
"Essentially it's stuck here," he said. "I saw it at about 8:30 when it stuck its nose up."
Other onlookers, such as Neil Johnson, said the news of the manatee's mysterious trip up the Mississippi and into the Wolf River reached Nashville where he lives.
Although none of the visitors on Mud Island Road besides Harris saw the manatee, Johnson speculates that it may have resurfaced several times considering its time span under water.
"I saw some fish jump out from the back over there," he said, pointing to the right bank. "Right there where there is a coloring of dark to light green water."
Manatees usually stay under water for about 10 minutes and routinely resurface. However, biologists are not sure of the reasons why the mammal is more than 800 miles away from natural habitat. Manatee habitats are usually located in coastal bodies where the water is warm and shallow.
Both Peterson and Harris said manatees do not swim in waters below 68 degrees Fahrenheit, but the Wolf River temperature is at 65 degrees.
"It's been hanging around here because the water is warmer and shallower," Harris said.
Harris also said manatees have a tendency to be near nuclear power plants, which unnaturally warm nearby water bodies.
So far, besides waiting for help from Seaworld, the Memphis Zoo has managed to voluntarily feed the mammal, which is an herbivore.
Manatees have been labeled as endangered species, but Michael Kennedy, a U of M biology professor, said survival needs come into play and aquatic authorities in Memphis are stuck with several unknown speculations.
"Water temperature and food are two reasons," he said. "It's just one of those things when an animal gets disoriented and takes a wrong turn."
