A manatee that normally makes a winter home in the Bay area had to be rescued in Texas this week.

Wildlife officials say the manatee migrated to the Lone Star State during the summer months but, the weather turned too cold before it could make it back to Florida.

The manatee lost several hundred pounds after stranding itself in water slightly warmer than the route he would’ve needed to take to get back to the Gulf of Mexico.  

Rescuers in Texas turned to FWC biologist Andy Garrett for help. Before he even got to the site, Garrett said he went over photographs and was able to identify the manatee by the scars on its body.

“He had a crescent piece missing from his tail, and then a series of scar patterns,” Garrett said. “So by using those as sort of fingerprints, we were able to match him up."

As it turns out FWC said this particular manatee spends winter months in Hillsborough County, near the Teco power plant at Apollo Beach.

“Manatees will migrate,” Garrett said. “They’ll go up to the panhandle. We have animals that use Alabama, Mississippi and Louisianna.”

Luckily, the rescue in Texas was a success. The manatee is now recovering at Sea World in San Antonio. If it survives, Garrett said it’s likely he will be brought back to Tampa Bay next winter season.