Look who came to visit: Rare manatee sighting on Hilton Head

It’s tourist season in the Lowcountry, and even the critters are coming on vacation.

There was a rare manatee sighting Wednesday at Hilton Head’s Wexford Plantation. While manatee sightings have steadily increased in recent years, according to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, there were only 52 records of manatees documented in South Carolina from 1850 to 1992.

Warren Holland, Wexford Plantation’s dockmaster, spotted the “tourist” after being alerted by a member.

“We saw them last year doing the same thing,” he said. “They don’t hang out here long, maybe a couple weeks, then I assume go back down south. ... I walked out there, saw the manatee swimming around, eating off the dock without a care in the world. It only really hangs out at certain times of the tide, and it is not for long but almost daily.”

In North America, manatees traditionally live in and around the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, coming only as far north as the top of the Florida coastline.

More about manatees

▪  They’re herbivores and eat more than 60 different freshwater and saltwater plants.

▪  They have four rows of teeth and can weigh up to 1,300 pounds.

▪  Their main causes of death are human-related, such as habitat destruction and run-ins with boats and ships.

▪  It is illegal under federal and Florida law to injure or harm a manatee. They are classified as endangered.

This story was originally published June 29, 2017 at 8:59 AM with the headline "Look who came to visit: Rare manatee sighting on Hilton Head."