When Hurricane Irma sucked the water out of Sarasota Bay on Sunday afternoon, it left a couple of manatees high and dry. Fortunately, there were people who were willing to help nearby.
Marcelo Clavijo posted video and photos on Facebook describing the scene.
He said he was getting "stir crazy," so he went for a ride to check out the bay near Whitfield. He saw the water had receded and saw two manatees on the flats.
He said he and "a couple of Manatee's finest" went into knee-deep mud, rolled the manatees onto a tarp and dragged them 100 yards back into the water.
"So we went for a ride and ended up saving two manatees," he wrote.
Great job today by Deputies Mizner and Hart as they helped rescue two Manatees that were stranded in receding water. pic.twitter.com/DwPfTSVGHz
— Manatee Sheriff (@ManateeSheriff) September 10, 2017