Accustomed to warm waters, manatees are most at home around Florida, though they often go as far north as the Carolinas in the summer. Last summer, Chessie returned to the Chesapeake Bay in early July, his movements tracked by the Biological Service's Sirenia Project. Chessie swam as far as Rhode Island, which he reached on Aug. 13, before turning around. Chessie was sighted off Virginia on Sept. 23 and near Jacksonville, Fla. on Nov. 16. He wasn't spotted again until Feb. 20.
Manatees are an endangered species, with a few thousand, at most, left in U.S. waters.
The animals' main enemies are people and boats. However, the Biological Service announced that a record 2,639 manatees were counted in Florida during February. March 29, 1996.