Does the James have multiple manatees, or just one on the move?

Could more than one manatee be exploring the James River?

A manatee was spotted in the Dutch Gap area near Chester on Monday, in Richmond just below downtown Tuesday -- that's about a 5-mile trip -- and back in the Dutch Gap area Wednesday.

"I honestly think there is more than one," said Joel Cloud, a Chester-area salesman who photographed a manatee in the Dutch Gap area Monday about 2 p.m.

Joe Owen Jr., a Dinwiddie County Sheriff's Office sergeant, took a picture of a manatee just below the Interstate 95 bridge in Richmond on Tuesday about noon and reported seeing one again Wednesday about 1 p.m. in the Dutch Gap area. It was swimming downriver.

Experts said Cloud's and Owen's pictures indeed showed a manatee.

Wendy Walton, a veterinary technician with the Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Program, didn't rule out the multiple-manatee scenario -- "you never say never" -- but felt the sightings are of one movin' manatee.

"Oh gosh, yes," a manatee can cover that much distance that quickly, Walton said. The stranding program, based in Virginia Beach, is taking manatee reports.

Owen estimated the manatee was swimming 3-4 mph in an easy manner. At that rate, it could travel from Richmond to Dutch Gap in a couple of hours.

There were no reports of sightings as of late yesterday afternoon, officials said. It's not uncommon for a manatee to disappear after a rash of sightings.

"That's kind of what we're hoping" in this case, Walton said.

Big aquatic mammals native to Florida, manatees sometimes roam north in summer, then head back south when the water cools. Scientists aren't sure why they make the trips.

For some reason, the northbound voyages appear to be increasing. A decade ago, it was unusual to hear of one sighting near the Virginia coast, Walton said. Now it's not uncommon to get more than a dozen reports a summer.

A manatee hadn't been reported in Richmond since 2002.

Contact Rex Springston at (804) 649-6453 or .