Is it possible for a manatee to be in an Indiana river - the White River in Indianapolis? I know I saw one.?

Question

I was in my canoe paddling downstream and saw a large ripple, about 2-3 ft high heading towards me, spreading out for 15-20 feet. As I went past the wake, I saw what I first thought was a huge turtle, as a hump became evident. I put on my electric motor and circled, keeping a distance of twenty feet away. No head, no tail, no dorsal fin, and the hump was not a shell, but a smooth, mottled mound. Whatever it was never turned, never dived under, never varied its speed, which was whatever the lowest speed on my motor was. I kept with it for almost twenty minutes. Finally, I had to go back in and no one I talked to about this can think of what it could be. Just read about a manatee in the East River in NY and I realize that the manatee would be much more likely to be on the east coast instead of inland Indiana but....? PS I've considered it may have been some ghastly mechanized hoax but , once again....?

Answer 1

Generally, all the "wayward" manatees I've heard of usually head out of Florida and go up the East Coast. I'm not sure what crazy route your "manatee" would have had to take. It sounds pretty improbable, though.

Answer 2

Are you sure it wasn't a big catfish? My hubby used to live next to the river where it runs through Indianapolis, and that water is far too cold for a manatee to survive for long. I have seen some huge catfish up there!

Come to think of it, the White River is so polluted in places that you can almost walk across it! Could have been some kind of inanimate junk, since it never varied course. Is there a Nessie relative lurking about?

Answer 3

I can't think of what else it might be, but it seems unlikely that a manatee could swim constantly for twenty minutes and never need to raise its head to take a breath of air. If it was a manatee, you should have seen its head or at least nostrils as it breathed.

Answer 4

I am sure that it is possible for a manatee to be in an Indiana river, but it couldn't have traveled there naturally. All rivers in Indiana flow either to Lake Erie, Lake Michigan, or the Mississippi River.

Answer 5

The news last weekend wrote about a manatee found in the Hudson River! Just another sign of global warming! There are also some tropical species of algae showing up in the artic circle area. Some tropical mussels are in very northerly waters too! We are in for it!

Answer 6

If it could be transported over land to the river. One was spotted by the way in New York and in the past off the coast of Rhode Island

Answer 7

yea

Answer 8

yup, they wonder aimlessly lol