Manatee spotted in James River

A gentle sea monster is prowling the James River.

River-goers spotted a manatee, also known as a sea cow, in Richmond on Tuesday and several miles downriver yesterday.

"He'll come up and get some air, roll over on his back, rub his face and go swimming along," said Joe Owen Jr., 37, a sergeant with the Dinwiddie County Sheriff's Office.

Owen said he spotted the aquatic mammal in the city just below the Interstate 95 bridge Tuesday and in the Chester area yesterday. Owen was bass fishing both times.

Judging from grainy pictures sent by another witness, experts say the sightings are valid.

"It does look like we have a manatee hanging around the area," said Julia Dixon, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

"Oh, yeah, that's a manatee," said Maggie Lynott, a stranding technician with the Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Program, which is taking calls of the sightings.

Native to Florida, manatees are docile vegetarians that resemble giant seals. The average adult is about 10 feet long and weighs about 1,000 pounds.

Owen estimated the one he saw at 8 to 10 feet and 700 to 1,000 pounds.

Some manatees head north in summer, apparently looking for new places to live. When the water turns cold, they go back south.

About a half-dozen manatees were reported this summer in the Chesapeake Bay or off the Virginia coast, Lynott said. It is unusual, however, for one to venture so far up the James. The last sighting in Richmond was in 2002.

Experts said yesterday that they were monitoring reports and hoping the animal heads back south.

Manatees are an endangered species. It is illegal to harm or harass them.

Rob Case, a civil engineer from Virginia Beach, was in Richmond on business Tuesday and stopped by the James across from Ancarrow's Landing, just east of downtown.

"I looked down, and the manatee was right below me. . . . It was just as strange as if I'd looked up and seen a spacecraft."

Case said the animal was swimming downriver a few inches under water "at a very low and consistent speed" and "leaving a V-shaped wake."

"I could see the barnacles on his back. He was perfectly clear. . . . It was just incredible."

Owen, the deputy, said: "I just hope he gets back to where he needs to be. He's headed in the right direction."

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