PALMETTO, Fla. - A Palmetto sculptor has created a life size monument of Snooty the manatee from clay and hopes to raise enough money to turn his statue into bronze for residents to enjoy.

"I want it to be accurate. You have to put all the physical traits of Snooty," said sculptor Dale Holbrook, 61. "Once he's done, it's going to be about a thousand pounds plus of bronze sculpture."​

The 10-foot clay sculpture features Snooty doing his famous pose and captures the manatee's people loving personality.

"As a sculptor, you need to get their personality and if you look this is how everybody remembers Snooty," said Holbrook. "Climbing up the on the wall, forced himself up and just wanted to get into the crowd. He was very excited about seeing people."

At 69 years old, Snooty was the oldest living manatee in captivity until he accidentally drowned at the Bishop Museum in Bradenton back in 2017. Holbrook wants to preserve and honor Snooty's memory. 

The Navy Veteran sculptor said he gets a lot of positive feedback when people see his scale model.

"It was a big hit. Everybody really wanted Snooty back," he said. "So, they can come out, tell their stories and just see him again."

Holbrook said the coronavirus pandemic has made it difficult to raise money for the statue.

"I went to the Bishop Museum and the (Bradenton) Riverwalk and right now because of the Covid it's hard to raise any money," he said. "It's difficult times for them right now."

Holbrook has created a GoFundMe account and hopes Snooty's fans will help raise the nearly $80,000 it'll take to turn the statue into bronze.

"If you think about it 4,000 people went to his birthday... Millions of people over the years have visited him from all over the wold," he said. "If they knew... that we needed help raising money for him, I think everybody would contribute and so that's what we're hoping for." ​