OKEECHOBEE – The Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office has received reports about an animal in the Kissimmee River with a buoy attached. Some people were concerned it was an alligator with a hunting buoy.

“If you frequent Okee-Tantie, you may have seen it moving back and forth near the floating water lettuce,” the OCSO report states. “Well, it’s on gator! It’s a sea cow.”

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Service (FWC) has confirmed the buoy is attached to a manatee that was rescued after a near-death prop strike. The manatee was nursed back to health and released northwest of Okeechobee. The manatee was tracked by FWC as it traveled down the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes and down the Kissimmee River into Lake O.

The buoy serves as a warning for boaters and a tracker for wildlife officials to monitor manatee movements. The device holding it in place degrades over time and the buoy system will “pop” off to be recovered later by FWC.

Boaters are advised to slow down in areas that manatees are known to frequent. “We are in their environment once we leave the land,” advises OCSO.