Brett Hayes, with some help, released a couple of manatees back into the wild.
Caryolyn Ryan reports for NBC Miami.
Workers from the Miami Seaquarium got a little hand from members of the Florida Marlins, including catcher Brett Hayes, Marlin mascot Billy and members of the heavyweight all-male "Manatee" dance team.
One of the two sea cows, "Marlin," is a 585-pound manatee who was rescued in April. She was suffering from cold stress due to the frigid water temperatures we experienced in South Florida this winter. She was emaciated and sick at the time she was rescued, Seaquarium officials said.
The other manatee, a 700-pounder named "Wildcat," was rescued from the Indian River in Fort Pierce in June. He had ingested an abundance of fishing line and was unable to gather his own food.
It is always interesting to hear what the Marlins do in their spare time. It isn't always noble, but more times than not it is. When trying to move animals that large, it is a good thing to get all the hands you can, and with the Marlins Manatees onboard, they had the heft to do it.
With all of that said, click on the link and learn that they had to use a crane to get the animals in the water. Nonetheless, I'm sure the Marlins representatives were quite useful during the process if for no other reason than moral support.