Good Samaritans Help Beached Manatees After The Storm

It is not just the human population that suffers losses after a storm. In the wake of Hurricane Irma, a group of residents from Sarasota in Florida woke up to find a couple of manatees beached up on the shore on Sunday. The animals were found some 100 yards away from the deep water, near Whitfield Avenue and U.S. Route 41 in Manatee County, Florida.

Local resident Tony Faradini-Campos said: "I was out checking out the bay before the storm when I saw a few people out on the flat with two beached manatees. I went to help and took the video while we were waiting for more people. The few of us couldn't budge them."

The video, along with some photos that the good Samaritans took were posted online and soon dozens of willing individuals came to their aid. Local media reports that two Manatee County deputies and officials from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission came to the bay to help the rescue effort as well.

After several attempts to bring the washed up animals to the water, the helped eventually managed to roll them over on tarps and pull them into the nearby channel, where they were able to swim off.Each one of these manatees have the potential to reach up to 1300 pounds in weight.