Hurricanes Helene and Milton stormed through communities, homes, and businesses, causing tens of billions of dollars in damages that will require a long recovery period. The impacts aren’t limited to people or their pets, though. Wildlife have dealt with disruptions to their homes, as well, from swarming bees with washed out nests to birds being cared for by sanctuaries. Another animal victim is one of Florida’s marine icons, the manatee, and you can help them recover this GivingTuesday.

When hurricanes come through manatee habitat, storm surge can push them ashore, ultimately stranding them when water recedes. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said they’d responded to many of these incidents in the days following Hurricane Helene’s landfall. They shared social media posts of biologists working to get the animals back to their habitat.

However, stranded manatees often require more extensive care and may end up at sanctuaries or aquariums and their clinics, some of which were damaged by Helene. 

Among those impacted was the Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Florida, which rehabs manatees injured in a variety of different ways, before releasing them back into the wild. Unfortunately, Helene caused substantial damage to their newly opened rehab center.

Over four feet of flooding inundated the aquarium, power was lost for an extended period, and the saltwater damaged equipment that keep their water habitats safe.

As a result, two juvenile manatees that were brought to the aquarium in July – Zamboni and Yeti – had to be transferred to ZooTampa at Lowry Park, until repairs could be made, especially to the life support systems that maintain their water quality.

The funding for these repairs is essential for the facility to resume their important work of caring for these gentle giants. That includes young ones like Zamboni and Yeti, who need to pack on the pounds to grow into healthy adults.

This GivingTuesday, we’re working with our partner Greater Good Charities to support manatee conservation by helping the Clearwater Marine Aquarium get their rehab facility up and running again. This will help them continue to care for malnourished manatees, as well as those suffering the impacts of red tide, injuries from boat strikes and fishing net entanglements, and disruption from hurricanes.

If you’d like to support Zamboni, Yeti, and other manatees in need, click below!