‘A treat’: College students capture rare manatee sighting in Corpus Christi Bay

There recently was an unusual sighting in Corpus Christi Bay this week.

On Tuesday, June 15, Tristan Escamilla spotted a cute manatee hanging out by her apartments on Ocean Drive. She says she and her boyfriend, who aren’t from Corpus Christi originally, but are students at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, first thought it was an alligator or some big fish.

“Our neighbors and I were really confused on what it could be,” Escamilla says. “But then we saw it was an adorable manatee. We could actually see it from our apartment window. We observed her pretty much all day.”

Here’s the video of the manatee:

Scott Cross, director of coastal parks for Nueces County, says it’s not the first time a manatee has been spotted in Corpus Christi. However, hesays it doesn’t happen often.

“I think this is the second time I’ve heard of the happening in the past 3 years,” Cross says. “It’s a rare occurrence for sure.”

Manatees don’t live year-round in Texas, but these gentle, slow-moving sea cows are known to occasionally visit, swimming in for a “summer vacation” from Florida and Mexico before returning to warmer waters for the winter, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

Cross added the recent storms in Texas could have caused the manatee to travel from its usual habitat in Florida.

Whatever the reason is, Escamilla says it was a “treat” to see one along the bay.