We are as heartbroken to bring you this news as we know you'll be to hear it: Snooty the manatee has died, just two days after his 69th birthday and one day after his birthday party.
The South Florida Museum said on Facebook that his "death was a heartbreaking accident and the circumstances are being investigated so we can be sure we know the full details of what happened." (There's an update at the end of the story.)
https://www.facebook.com/SouthFLMuseum/posts/10159021185120114:0
As best anyone knows, Snooty was the world's oldest manatee in captivity. He was inducted into the 2017 Guinness Book of Records.
Snooty was born on July 21, 1948, to a mother who'd been pregnant when captured. "Baby Snoots," as he was then known, was born at the Miami Aquarium and Tackle Company, aboard a capsized Danish warship in Miami’s Biscayne Bay. Due to his captors only being permitted to own one manatee, he was sold to various other exhibitors before coming to Bradenton in1949.
He's lived at the South Florida Museum ever since, celebrated as the exquisite creature he was. (It hurts, putting that in the past tense.)
Every day, Snooty was fed some 70 pounds of romaine lettuce, with his sweet tooth satisfied by more occasional carrots, sweet potatoes, and strawberries. In exchange, he helped bring knowledge and awareness about manatees to an adoring world — for example, he taught us that manatees can live for seven decades — not to mention a whole lot of joy.
Snooty's gregarious personality — and hefty size of 1,300 pounds — made him a massive star. Snooty became an official mascot of Manatee County in 1979. This was less than a decade after federal law made it illegal to keep manatees in captivity, unless they are there for rehabilitation or cannot be safely released such as due to injuries. (Snooty himself had none of the life skills that would have made it safe for him to be released.)
Snooty has shared his tank with many such rehabilitating manatees. But when we visited him late last year for a behind-the-scenes tour, his caretakers said after all these years around people, Snooty really preferred human company.
That's what we saw, too: A friendly, hungry, charming, 1,300 pound ham of a manatee who used his well-developed shoulder muscles to hoist himself up out of the water to beg for treats and attention. He seemed to truly love his life — as anachronistic as it became — over its course.
Tons of people came out to the museum on Saturday for Snooty's annual birthday bash.
Marilyn Margold, director of living collections, told Bay News 9 that Snooty was more than just an attraction — he was also a symbol of animal conservation.
"He certainly been an ambassador for threatened and endangered species for quite a while," she said.
Here's us proselytizing, just a bit: With experts warning that our oceans are "under threat as never before," not to mention the dismal state of wildlife as a whole, we'd like to recommend that the best way to honor Snooty while we grieve and await answers about what caused Snooty's death is to donate to a local wildlife rehabilitation group, call your members of Congress to tell them you want them to take action on climate change, vow only to eat fish whose harvesting won't deplete the oceans. You can even volunteer at an animal shelter, or make a donation to the Save The Manatee Club in Snooty's name.
Just do something to help ensure other animals also get to live their own long and good lives, on the best available terms, like our beloved Snooty.
UPDATE, July 23, 3:45 PM: The South Florida Museum has released more details about Snooty's death. They kinda suck.
Here's an excerpt from the press release:
Snooty was found in an underwater area only used to access plumbing for the exhibit life support system. Early indications are that an access panel door that is normally bolted shut had somehow been knocked loose and that Snooty was able to swim in. The other three manatees undergoing rehabilitation in Snooty’s habitat — Randall, Baca and Gale — are all fine.
Snooty’s habitat undergoes a daily visual inspection and there were no indications the previous day that there was anything amiss. The Aquarium will remain closed while Museum staff continues its investigation and staff who worked with him have an opportunity to grieve.
Arin Greenwood is an animal writer, novelist and former lawyer living in St Pete. Her third book, Your Robot Dog Will Die, is due to be published by Soho Teen in April, 2018. She's also written two other books in which dogs appear but no robots are in any danger.
This article appears in Jul 20-27, 2017.
