FWC is confident that the trapped manatees are free

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) - The Florida Fish and Wildlife is confident it has freed two trapped manatees in the Halifax River in Daytona.

The agency said the adult manatee and her calf had been stuck in a cove behind a retention wall since at least Thursday.

Wednesday morning, engineers spent hours pulling up two panels to allow the manatees to swim out of the cove.

Crews monitored the water for about 30 minutes and did not see the manatees poke out of the water.
Since manatees can only hold their nose for 20 minutes, rescue crews are certain the pair made it out although the ordeal wasn't visible.  

FWC said city crews will return Thursday morning to monitor the water to ensure the pair is no longer stranded.

The agency said storm surge from hurricane Dorian is the reason why the pair became stuck in the first place.

It said the city plans to work with the state to modify the structure to ensure incidents like this one don't happen again.