No one has reported seeing the James River manatee since it was spotted Wednesday afternoon in the Dutch Gap area, officials said today.
It's not uncommon, however, for a manatee to disappear after a rash of sightings.
"That's kind of what we're hoping" will happen, said Wendy Walton, a veterinary technician with the Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Program, which is taking calls of the sightings.
Authorities ask that people not go looking for the manatee, for fear that someone may hit it with a boat or otherwise stress it.
But people who spot the manatee should call the stranding program at (757) 437-6159.
Manatees, large aquatic mammals native to Florida, sometimes roam north in the summer, then head back south when the water cools. Scientists aren't sure why they make the trips.
It's not unusual for a manatee to be spotted near the Virginia coast, but one hasn't been reported in Richmond since 2002.
Witnesses saw the James River manatee just below downtown Richmond on Tuesday and in the Dutch Gap area, about six miles downriver, the next day.
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