After having been rescued yesterday morning, a disobedient manatee is currently being transported in a climate-controlled truck on a 20-hour journey to Sea World in Florida.

According to A.J. Cady, a director for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, if the manatee survives, this will be the first case of such a marine mammal being found so far north and rescued. Manatees, which usually live off Florida and the southeastern coast of the US, aren’t in the habit of living in chilly waters. If they are in too cold waters, they stop eating and eventually die.

Dennis, as the aquatic mammal was named, was hypoglycemic and had a low body temperature – 24 degrees below normal. Suffering the early stages of cold shock, the manatee may have not been able to live through another day, rescuers said.

A large umber of wildlife experts struggled approximately three hours on Saturday to grab hold of the male manatee from Dennis’s Sesuit Harbor and lift it up into a van. The task wasn’t easy at all, considering that Dennis weighted no less that 1,000 pounds.

Officials from SeaWorld, the International Fund for Animal Welfare, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, state environmental agencies, firefighters, local police and the harbormaster joined forces to come up with a rescue plan. As stated by Katie Touhey, a rescuer with the International Fund for Animal Welfare, the operation would cost tens of thousands of dollars. "It is a lot of money to spend on an animal, but it's an endangered species," she said. "It's an honor to be part of this, for those of us who have a passion for animals."