No, manatees do not belong in New England. So why was one swimming around the dock in Mashpee, Massachusetts , on July 26, 2025? Good question without a good answer, as reported on NBC Boston.

This manatee then travelled to Mattapoisett on July 29. Later, it was rescued by bystanders after becoming stranded on a tidal flat; they helped return it to the ocean. According to MassWildlife and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), the animal appeared to be underweight and around 8 feet.

Manatees are a marine mammal, often overlooked by whale enthusiasts. They are under the protection of the Marine Mammal Protection Act . It is illegal to get closer than 150 feet to any marine mammal. Many people assume that they are related to whales, but, on the contrary, they are closely

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