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Miami Seaquarium Picks Name For Orphaned Manatee

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - And the winner is,,,.

The Miami Seaquarium has announced that the voting results are in and the name of its newest addition is "Junebug."

On June 19th the park, which is commorating its 60th anniversary, took in a rescued orphaned baby manatee. They then asked fans to help name the manatee by voting online for one of the following names: Elle, Emoji, Gigabyte, Junebug and Prodigy. Approximately 1000 people voted and "Junebug" was declared the winner.

Junebug was rescued from Outer Clam Bay in Naples. She was observed without a mother for an extended period of time. As a result, Junebug was rescued and brought to Miami Seaquarium where she is receiving the necessary care. She currently weighs 86 pounds . She will continue to be bottle fed until she is able to eat on her own.

Since park opened in 1955, they've help rescue and rehab hundreds of distressed manatees and sea turtles. Over the past several years, there has been an increased demand for the care of baby manatees.

In order to meet this need, the manatee care unit began a prenatal program. Seaquarium staff evaluated a manatee mother's milk and created a formula to feed to the rescued orphans. The calves are taught to nurse from a bottle until they are able to eat on their own.

The Miami Seaquarium is part of the Manatee Rescue & Rehabilitation Partnership, a cooperative group of non-profit, private, state, and federal entities who work together to monitor the health and survival of rehabilitated and released manatees.

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