Manatee Mom Recovers from ‘Pretty Grim’ Boat Strike Wound and Returns to the Wild with Her Baby

Reckless and Churro are back riding the waves.

The recently released manatees arrived at the SeaWorld Orlando Rescue Center in May 2022 after rescuers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and SeaWorld found Reckless, the manatee’s mother, with a wound from a “catastrophic ship strike” in the waters near Broward County. With Reckless was her newborn calf, Churro, still with the umbilical cord attached.

“Churro looked pretty good. She really looked like a brand new baby manatee in good condition,” Stacy DiRocco, senior veterinarian at SeaWorld Orlando, tells PEOPLE. “I will say, Reckless, her condition was pretty grim. It was certainly expected that she wouldn’t survive.”

The impact of the boat left the new mom with a broken shoulder and a gash that exposed the deep muscles and tissue of the manatee.

The Florida Sheriff’s Office is asking the public to stop calling them about mating sightings of manatees

Despite the severity of Reckless’ injuries, rescuers at SeaWorld Orlando remained hopeful and worked to save the animal and her baby. At first, rescuers took care of the mother manatee’s recovery on a day-to-day basis, but as Reckless continued to amaze veterinarians with her strength, SeaWorld staff began planning for the sea creature’s future.

During her 20 months at the SeaWorld Orlando Rescue Center, Reckless underwent 12 surgeries, many of which involved the amputation of a flipper she needed to survive a wound from being hit by a boat.

“We knew there was no way to save her fin or her shoulder,” DiRocco says of Reckless’ treatment. “It was catastrophically damaged to the point where it was beyond salvage, so the only thing I could do from that point on was figure out how to remove it and complete the amputation, but do it in a way that she would survive such a major procedure. That meant breaking it down into little pieces so we could keep her stable and do it little by little and then get her to heal from it.”

Reckless manatee before release near Broward County Florida.

Courtesy of SeaWorld

Reckless rescuers also ensured that the mother manatee maintained a strong bond with her cub. SeaWorld Orlando put extra effort into the couple’s recovery plan so they never had to be separated for long.

A female manatee rehabilitated at Disney’s Epcot has been returned to its natural habitat for a second time

“If we had separated them, in fact, Churro would have been an orphan and we would have hand-raised her. It was an extra effort and a challenge in terms of spacing, but we did everything we could to keep the two of them together,” says DiRocco, adding that the only time Churro was separated from her mom was when Reckless was in surgery.

“We had to make sure she was okay. We kept her with mom the whole way, and that was always the goal. We felt it was the best thing for both of us,” the vet shares Churro.

Animal rescuers are preparing a manatee for release into the wild.

Courtesy of SeaWorld

The duo’s bond extended beyond the walls of the rescue center. After nearly two years of rehabilitation, Reckless and Churro returned to the waters off Broward County, Florida to begin life in the wild again.

On January 18, Reckless and Churro were released after receiving more than 17,000 hours of specialized care at the SeaWorld Orlando Rescue Center.

“It’s just a phenomenal story of tenacity and strength that this animal has pulled through this,” DiRocco says of Reckless.

Manatee mothers and daughters are fitted with tracking harnesses before release, which will allow their rescuers to monitor the animals’ health and progress.

DiRocco hopes Reckless’ story will inspire people to be more considerate of sea creatures and wildlife conservation.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

“We need to be better about conservation, and that’s not just about manatees. There are so many species. If we take a minute and, on an individual basis, try to do what we can to be conservation-minded, I think that would be great. If you see these animals in front of you, it creates an inspiration to do it,” she says.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education