Flooding Pushes 7 Manatees Onto a Florida Golf Course

Strong storms wash lots of random stuff inland—plastic garbage, dock wood, unmoored boats. When Hurricane Hermine tore into Florida in early September, it was seven manatees that floated in on the tide, drifting like fat, leathery buoys into a Gulf Coast golf course’s water hazard.

There they stayed, trapped in the brownish pond, munching on aquatic weeds and blowing bubbles. That is, until yesterday, when rescue workers ended their limbo with nets and a free ride to open water. The whole process was documented by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which has posted a wonderful photo series from the grounds of the Plantation on Crystal River golf course.