Manatee spotted in Intracoastal Waterway in Myrtle Beach area. Here’s where it was seen
At first, Brandelyn Breinig didn’t believe her mother when she told her Sept. 4 there was a manatee in the Intracoastal Waterway near her condo.
But when Breinig arrived a few minutes later, both women could see the animal from her mother’s balcony at Lauderdale Bay Estates, which sits along the waterway across from the Arrowhead Golf Course in the Myrtle Beach area.
The women went down on the footpath to see the manatee that was eating grasses in the waterway, Breinig said Tuesday.
“It was really something to see,” she said.
The manatee was there for about 20 minutes to a half hour before it swam away, Breinig said.
Breinig said that manatees are her favorite animal. “They’re just floaty potatoes,” she said. “I think they’re really cool. They’re just gentle giants.”
It’s not unusual to see the animals often referred to as sea cows or gentle giants in area waterways. One was spotted in October in North Myrtle Beach.
It is not clear how many manatee sightings occur each year in South Carolina. A call to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, which provides a place for people to report sightings, was not immediately returned Tuesday.
While they are mainly seen in Florida, warmer weather can bring them to South Carolina.
“It’s not totally uncommon,” said Lauren Rust, executive director of the Low Country Marine Mammal Network based in Charleston. The nonprofit focuses on protecting marine mammals in South Carolina waters.
Rust said the manatee may be using the Intracoastal Waterway to make its way to Florida. “It’s the easiest way to go up and down,” Rust said.
Rust is not too concerned about the manatee, adding that the animal can be seen for about six to eight months in the Charleston area.
“This time of year, they should start making their way back down (to Florida),” Rust said, adding that people may even see some as late as November.
This story was originally published September 5, 2023 at 12:53 PM.
