St. Petersburg woman spots rare set of manatee twins
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A rare set of manatee twins were spotted in Florida’s waterways. Back in August, Britni LaVine, a St. Petersburg woman, saw the female manatee and her twins in Bayboro Harbor, located in St. Petersburg near Albert Whitted Airport.
"I originally took the picture outside my office (NOAA Fisheries) on August 9," LaVine tells FOX 13. "We get a lot of manatee sightings but never babies that young, and especially twins. We were just amazed."
Experts said twins occur but are rare among Florida manatees.
“While it is possible for a healthy mother to support twins, there is little data on how twin calves fare in the wild,” according to FWC’s Facebook post. Florida manatee twins are born between 1.4 to 4 percent of the time, according to Mote Marine scientists.
FWC shared LaVine's twin manatee photos this week for Manatee Awareness Month. Officials said they want to remind people to report any sick, distressed or dead manatees to their hotline: 888-404-3922, then press 7 for an operator.