BLUFFTON — A pair of golfers got a surprise as they rounded the ninth hole of the Crescent Pointe Golf Course on Nov. 22.
A beached manatee was stranded in a tidal creek. Photos posted to the golf course’s Facebook page show the marine mammal laying in a shallow pool of water and mud beneath a golf cart bridge.
The social media post shared by the Crescent Pointe Golf Club in Bluffton on Nov. 22 included a video of the manatee splashing in the creek between the marsh grass.
Crescent Pointe’s marketing director Dylan DeBellis said the course’s general manager called to alert him to the situation.
“He calls me and he’s, like, ‘we’ve got a manatee on nine,’” DeBellis said. “Usually not the words I hear from him.”
It was a first for the golf course, he said.
“Usually we’ll get gators or some other kind of wildlife around here, but never a manatee,” DeBellis said.
The unexpected visitor prompted the golfers to call the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.
The manatee likely entered the tidal creek at high tide but was left stranded as the waters receded. Golf course staff kept the area clear and directed golfers away from the animal, DeBellis said. They were instructed to keep the manatee hydrated, covering it with damp towels and misting it with a hose for a while until DNR directed them to hold off.
Cheyenne Twilley, a spokesperson for DNR, said the manatee did not have to be physically relocated. Once the tide came back in, the mammal made it back into deeper waters.
It’s somewhat unusual to see a manatee in South Carolina waters in late November since most have migrated back to Florida by this time. But sometimes they linger in Lowcountry waters. As temperatures drop, they are at risk of cold stress, a sickness that the marine mammals experience when they are in waters below 68 degrees Fahrenheit.
Twilley said the manatee found in Bluffton on Nov. 22 was showing signs of cold stress. The agency is asking people to keep an eye out for the manatee in the water.
“It may still be in the area, or may have moved south to (Georgia) waters. We need as many eyes on the water looking for it as possible,” Twilley said. “The hope is that it can complete its migration back to (Florida) before it gets too cold.”
DNR operates a wildlife hotline for people to report their manatee sightings by calling 1-800-922-5431. This year, over 230 manatees have been spotted in South Carolina, according to SCDNR.
If you do come across a stranded manatee, it’s recommended by the Lowcountry Marine Mammal Network to keep your distance from the animal and document the sighting with photos and videos.
“The safest and most helpful action members of the public can take is to give the animal space and call trained responders,” said Nancy Lauricella, a development associate for the Lowcountry Marine Mammal Network.
