A manatee tangled in a crab trap near Titusville lost her right flipper, but SeaWorld Orlando says she’s eating, healing and could go home to the wild.
A manatee named Southpaw is getting a second shot at life at SeaWorld Orlando, and she’s doing it with one less flipper.
FOX 35 Orlando reported on Wednesday, Oct. 28, that the big girl is swimming and recovering at the park’s manatee rehab center after veterinary surgeons had to remove her right flipper. The cause was a familiar one in Florida waters: a crab trap line that wrapped around her and wouldn’t let go.
“They were able to remove that line,” Mallorie McCormack, a senior zoological specialist at SeaWorld, told the station.
Here’s FOX 35’s report from SeaWorld:
How was Southpaw the manatee rescued?
It started with a neighbor who paid attention. Terry Morse, who lives on the water near Titusville in Brevard County, spotted the manatee in the Indian River Lagoon and could tell something wasn’t right.
Morse and her husband watched the manatee for hours from their home before calling for help, FOX 35 reported in September. A commercial crab trap and its buoy were tangled around the animal, which made it hard for her to move and even to breathe.
“It was scary because I knew she was suffering, but I didn’t know how bad she was suffering,” Morse said at the time.
Rescuers reached her by boat and kayak, and she was taken to SeaWorld Orlando.
SeaWorld said she arrived on Aug. 27, according to FOX 35’s September report. The station’s Oct. 28 story credited Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers with bringing her in.
Why did SeaWorld have to amputate her flipper?
The trap line had done too much damage. WFTV reported in September that the injuries to her flipper were severe, and SeaWorld’s vet team decided it couldn’t be saved.
So surgeons removed her right pectoral flipper. That sounds scary, but manatees mostly steer with their flippers and push themselves forward with their big paddle tails. Plenty of manatees in Florida live with old injuries from boats and fishing gear.
At the time she arrived, Southpaw weighed more than 1,400 pounds, SeaWorld said in a statement to FOX 35. She got care around the clock in the first weeks.
“The good news is that she is healing well and has started eating,” a SeaWorld spokesperson said in September.
Will Southpaw be released back into the wild?
That’s the plan. FOX 35 reported that she’s expected to make a full recovery and be released. She’s on medicine, and her care team is watching to make sure she puts on weight.
No release date has been set. State wildlife officials get the final say on when a rehabbed manatee goes back into the water.
Morse, who started all this with a phone call, is thrilled. “I feel very honored to be a part of her, a little part of her journey back to a second chance,” she told FOX 35.
How many manatees has SeaWorld Orlando rescued?
A lot. SeaWorld said in an April 7, 2026, press release that its parks had rescued 1,081 manatees since 1976, and SeaWorld Orlando handled 1,078 of them. At that point, it had already rescued 21 manatees in 2026.
By late October, SeaWorld’s team had helped more than 30 manatees this year, according to FOX 35.
The park hit its 1,000th manatee rescue in March 2025. In 2024 alone, it rescued 61 manatees and returned 38 to the wild, FOX 35 reported then.
Can you see the manatees at SeaWorld Orlando?
You can. SeaWorld Orlando’s Manatee Rehabilitation Area is a working rescue center that the park opened up for “complimentary viewing to all park guests,” according to SeaWorld’s website. It has displays and rescue footage that explain what manatees face in the wild.
The park also sells guided behind-the-scenes tours of its rescue work. Just know that the animals you see might change from visit to visit, since the goal is always to send them home.
What should you do if you see a hurt manatee?
Morse’s advice is good for anyone on Florida’s waterways. “If it doesn’t look right, doesn’t look normal to you, then question it,” she said.
The FWC asks people to call its Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC (888-404-3922) if they see an injured, sick, tangled or dead manatee. Don’t try to pull off fishing line or rope yourself. Keep your distance, note where you are and wait for trained rescuers.
A few other easy habits help, too. Slow down in posted manatee zones, wear polarized sunglasses so you can spot them below the surface, and toss old fishing line in the right bins instead of leaving it behind.
Article compiled and written by Kambrea Pratt (editor-in-chief), Derek Gibbs (beat editor) and the Pirates & Princesses newsroom. Pirates & Princesses is part of WebReef Media.
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Hat Tips:
FOX 35 Orlando (Oct. 28 and Sept. 8), Southpaw’s rescue, recovery, quotes and video
WFTV (Sept. 11), flipper injury details
SeaWorld Orlando (April 7), rescue totals and Manatee Rehabilitation Area details
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Wildlife Alert Hotline number
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