A police officer said she thought she was going to drown.
Police officers in Florida held the head of a distressed manatee, or sea cow, above water for two hours until marine biologists could rescue it, as per a report in New York Post. The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office mentioned how Deputy Jill Constant with the Marine and Environmental Lands Unity went out of the way to help the "exhausted" sea animal. The incident took place a few weeks ago when the red tide levels were too high. Ms Constant reached the spot after receiving a call from a woman who said there was something wrong with a manatee in the Intracoastal Waterway, the outlet further said.
"This manatee is going to die right in front of us and I'm not letting that happen! We docked the boat... and got in. We stayed in the water for two hours holding its head up until it could be rescued," she was quoted as saying by the Sheriff's office on Twitter.
Ms Constant and another officer took turns to hold the manatee's head above the surface for two hours as they waited for the help to arrive.
The officer recalled that the sea cow regained some strength after a while and began thrashing its body in the water to get away from them.
"I thought I was going to drown - a martyr for the cause," Ms Constant said, as per the Post report.
Florida's Fish and Wildlife Commission thanked the officers for jumping in to help the manatee, adding that it is expected to make full recovery.
FWC biologists claimed the sea cow's distress and exhaustion were likely caused by the effects of toxins produced by red tide, a common term used for a harmful algal bloom.
The aquatic mammals are found along tropical and subtropical Atlantic coasts. There are three species of the manatee - dull gray, blackish, or brown in colour. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, they have stout tapered bodies ending in a flat rounded tail used for forward propulsion. The forelimbs are modified into flippers and there are no hind limbs.
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