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Manatee with 3 pronged tail. Credit: FWC
PALM BEACH, Florida -- Florida Fish and Wildlife biologists believe that the cold weather has helped to uncover a local mystery; the identity of the mysterious sea monster featured on the TV show MonsterQuest which airs on the History Channel.
As hundreds of manatees huddled to stay warm inside the channel of the Florida Power and Light Riviera Beach Power Plant, one of the gentle sea cows stood out due to a distinct feature of its anatomy.
Thought to have been injured by a boat propeller at some point in its life, the manatee's tail grew back into three separate prongs.
Due to the unusual shape, the manatee leaves three separate wakes on the water's surface while swimming just below.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission believes that this is the source of the sea creature shown during a segment last year on Monsterquest.
The origin of last year's other sensational underwater story remains a mystery.
A strange creature dubbed the 'Muck Monster' created strange wake patterns on the surface of the Lake Worth Lagoon.
Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of UnderwaterTimes.com, its staff or its advertisers.
Reader Comments
10 people have commented so far.I Move to nickname this manatee 3 Fingered Freddie
comment# 1 - lobster · new youk · Jan 12, 2010 @ 3:51am
Interesting!
comment# 2 - Mike · Columbia,USA · Jan 17, 2010 @ 1:28pm
The poor creature needs medical help and perhaps to be studied to see if what is supposed to have happen in reality actually did. I feel sorry for the manatee.
comment# 3 - Daenna Harris · Houston, Texas, USA · Jan 18, 2010 @ 1:52pm
There are 3 sorts of manatee; they primarily distinguished as a result of where they survive. One population of manatee ranges by the side of the eastern coast of North American as of Florida up to Brazil. The various other kinds occupy the Amazon River as well as the western coastline and rivers in the continent of Africa. http://www.wildlifeworld360.com/manatees-the-huge-sea-cows.html
comment# 4 - Jehnavi · Lake City, FL · May 27, 2010 @ 8:26pm
The cryptid is not a manatee. If you watch the video, you can see the creature moving very quickly in the water, as if it is chasing bait fish. Manatees are slow moving creatures and they are vegetarian.
comment# 5 - Chris · USA · Jul 16, 2010 @ 4:21am
Its just a mutation people come on!
comment# 6 - dino135 · neton falls · Sep 16, 2010 @ 11:07am
Manatees may be vegetarian, but that doesn't mean they can't move quickly. They are surprisingly agile and can swim very quickly when motivated. Also, it's not actually a mutation, it's an injury. Nearly every adult manatee in florida bears the scars of an encounter with a boat propellar. Researchers will sometimes document the pattern of scars and use them to identify individual animals.
comment# 7 - ryan · gainesville, fl · Oct 10, 2010 @ 9:03pm
That tail looks very little like the animal's tail on the show and the head was the most impressive part, which looked nothing like a manatee.
comment# 8 - Chris · Detroit · Nov 15, 2010 @ 11:28pm
This animal can easily be filmed (since there is so much footage of it already) and it is ridiculous that people like myself who want to learn more about new species WASTE and hour of my time watching an episode with no conclusion. If I were being paid via a grant to discover what animal, known or unknown, this was I would have had a definitive answer...not some drama episode reminding me of the Kardashions or however you spell it. For this reason I am boycotting all monsterquest episode from this point on.
comment# 9 - Brady · Chicago · Feb 7, 2012 @ 5:10pm
The Findings of this creature don't make sense. It can't be a Manatee. Firstly, Manatees absolutely do not, move swiftly through water. Secondly this creatures head looks like that of a Large seal. The tail of the creature on the video, appeared to move each prong independently. Not as a whole tail that had sustained an injury. I believe what was captured on video, could in fact be a sea mammal, long thought to be extinct.
comment# 10 - Michael · Los Angeles, United States · Sep 19, 2012 @ 6:10pm