She Had 47 Boat Strike Scars. The 48th Nearly Killed Her. Then Something Remarkable Happened

Added: 2026-06-07

[00:00:00]Scar, the Florida manatee, had survived 47 documented boat propeller strikes over 20 years. Wildlife biologists knew her by every mark on her back. The 48th strike penetrated her body cavity. The SeaWorld rescue team reached her in 40 minutes. What happened 6 months after the surgery is the reason her story is told. Florida's manatee population carries the history of boat traffic on their bodies. Scar, ID number FLO234, had been photo-identified at 47 separate boat strike events over a 20-year monitoring period. Each event had been survivable.

[00:00:36]She had learned nothing from 47 encounters that allowed her to avoid the 48th. Florida's [music] boat speeds are regulated in manatee zones.

[00:00:45]The Florida Fish and Wildlife Hotline received the report at [music] 11:07 a.m. The SeaWorld rescue team was in the water with Scar at 11:51 a.m.

[00:00:54]The wound from the propeller was in the dorsal posterior, a strike [music] that had cut into the body cavity.

[00:01:00]The surgery took 6 hours.

[00:01:03]The wound required irrigation, debridement, and a closure technique.

[00:01:07]The prognosis was uncertain for the first 72 hours.

[00:01:11]On hour 74, Scar accepted food from the keeper's hand. The team lead noted it in the record and said nothing else for several minutes. Scar was released into [music] Crystal River 6 months after the injury. She was fitted with a satellite tag and a temporary identification marker. The tag data showed her integrating normally into the local manatee aggregation at the 14-week post-release underwater survey. The photographer found her at a spring vent.

[00:01:39]The calf was designated FLO451 in the state database. It has been photo-identified at Crystal River in four subsequent surveys, healthy, growing, carrying no propeller scars yet. Scar carries 48. Florida's manatee protection laws are under ongoing revision. The argument for stronger boat speed restrictions [music] in manatee zones is in part scars back.

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