An injured manatee returned home to Florida weeks after being spotted in OBX waters

OUTER BANKS, N.C. — A manatee is back home at SeaWorld Orlando nearly three weeks after it was first spotted in the Outer Banks, thanks to a group of volunteers.

According to North Carolina Aquariums, the manatee was first sighted in the waters of Kitty Hawk Bay on October 29. On Monday, the team captured a manatee from a stream on the Tar River near Greenville.

When the team rescued the manatee, they noticed it was injured and possibly sick, the Aquarium said.

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The manatee has now been safely transported back to Florida.

Aquariums says the team is allowed to capture and transport the manatees because the rescue was carried out under a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.