This manatee cam comes to you live from the Parker Manatee Aquarium in Florida and is home to Snooty the Manatee. Snooty is the world’s most recognized Manatee and was born at the Miami Aquarium in 1949! You may be able to catch Snooty during one of the many presentations held daily on this cam. This manatee cam has streaming video - scroll to the bottom of the following link to watch the cam.
Watch Snooty the Manatee Cam
Snooty, the manatee has lived in Bradenton, FL since mid- 1949. He was born on July 21, 1948 at the Miami Aquarium (owned by Capt. Richard J. Walters). The Aquarium was made from the hull of the sailing ship “Prins Valdemar” and opened as an aquarium in May 1928.
Snooty, will be 60 years old on July 21, 2008.
Samuel Stout’s business was the Miami Aquarium Tackle Company (as his company letterhead reads) that was based on the Prins Valdemar. In July of 1948 my grandfather discovered that Lady, the female manatee he had earlier captured with the permission from the Florida Department of Conservation, had given birth to a calf (Snooty) in captivity. Samuel Stout gifted Snooty to the City of Bradenton and Manatee County in June of 1949. I have just presented extensive documentation of Snooty’s origins to the scientists of the U.S. Geological Survey - the Sirenia Project, and to the Parker Manatee Museum at the South Florida Museum in Bradenton, where Snooty lives. All of these documents are public records.
Capt. Richard J. Walters owned the “Prins Valdemar”.
He did start and run for years the Miami Aquarium which was converted from the hull of the ship.
Over the later years he did have different partners / managers help run the aquarium.
Samuel Stout (originally from NY) ran / owned the Aquarium (Miami Aquarium and Tackle Co) in its final years, approxiately 1947 - 1950.
It was during that time that a manatee named “Lady” was rescued from Biscayne Bay by Samuel Stout and she later gave birth to ‘Baby Snoots’ aka Snooty at the Aquarium.
When the aquarium was forced to close down, Samuel saw to it that the baby manatee had a permanent home in Bradenton.
I am Paulette Carr, the granddaughter of Samuel Stout, the owner and operator of the Miami Aquarium Tackle Company in the late 1940’s, and the man who gave Snooty to the City of Bradenton. In March of this year, Alice Luckhardt and I have worked together to iron out the differences and inconsistencies in our stories for the sake of an accurate history. It has been a pleasure to work with her, and we are sharing information that clarifies and enriches both our histories.
Since much of the story has been lost to the public, I would like to tell the story of Snooty’s origins and the Miami Aquarium Tackle Company. Though it is my family’s story, my corroborating sources are as follows: several articles from the Miami Herald, particularly, “Sea Cows Were His Good Friends” Jan. 26, 1955, an article from the Bradenton Herald, “Live Manatee Drops Into Lap of Bradenton”, April 1, 1949, and documents and letters from the archived files of Walter Hardin, the Head of the DeSoto Celebration Commission in 1948-1949.
The Miami Aquarium was a long-standing attraction located on the landlocked ship, the Prins Valdemar on the Miami city property of Bayfront Park. Around 1947, Samuel Stout assumed ownership of the business, and renamed it the Miami Aquarium Tackle Company. Yes, he did provide and sell tackle. In early 1948 he obtained a permit to capture and exhibit one manatee from the Florida Department of Conservation. He did capture an adult female manatee that he called Lady. On July 21, 1948, this female gave birth in her tank to a young calf, with Stout acting as the midwife. At first the calf was believed to be female, but much later was determined to be a male. When he saw that Lady was not caring for the young calf, he built a special tank for the infant manatee that he called “Baby” (first named “Baby Snooks”, now called Snooty), and fed him bottled milk, and installed a cot so that he could care for “Baby” around the clock. He did not show him until he could eat lettuce, and always hand-fed “Baby”.
There was some controversy in March of 1949, when an agent for the Florida Board of Conservation insinuated (reported in the Miami Herald) that “Baby” had been captured without a permit. Stout testified before the Dade County Commission, insisting that the calf was Lady’s baby.
At the very same time, Manatee County was preparing for their DeSoto Celebration. The Hon. Walter Hardin headed the DeSoto Celebration Association in 1948-1949. Verified by documents that appear to be from the files of Hardin, the DeSoto Celebration wanted to capture and exhibit a manatee during their celebration, specifically because their county had been named for this animal, and not many people had ever seen one. He made arrangements for permits to capture a manatee in both 1948 and 1949, but it appears that he was unable to do so.
In the interest of making a lively and compelling story about Manatee capture, the Publicity Chairman of the DeSoto Celebration, Mr. T. L. Chryst concocted a tale of capture by harpooning. He knew, and apparently had spoken with Samuel Stout who had successfully captured a manatee off of Dade County in 1948, and was aware that this was not the technique used for capture. Unfortunately, the Humane Society of Miami, and the Audubon Society seized upon the capture misinformation and held public press conferences implying that Samuel Stout had used harpooning to capture the adult female manatee. This was in addition to being falsely accused of capturing two manatees.
Although the DeSoto Celebration was fast approaching, Hardin was still unable to capture a manatee. He wrote to Bunn Guatier (an attorney and State Senator from Miami) enlisting his help in getting Dade County Commissioners to allow Sam Stout to capture a manatee for them. This was agreed to, reluctantly, because, based on hearsay, the conservation officers believed that Stout used tactics that were inhumane. In no way was Sam Stout a party to capture by harpooning, or any other inhumane practice. Letters from Walter Hardin and T. L. Chryst vindicated him, and these letters were submitted to the State Conservation Department, under a Mr. George Vathis, in an attempt of clear up the situation. There was only a week to affect the manatee capture for Hardin. It is not certain whether Stout was unsuccessful in finding and capturing another manatee, or the capture attempt was blocked. He decided, however, to bring “Baby to Bradenton for the DeSoto Celebration.
Just as the very successful DeSoto Celebration was ending, and Stout returned with “Baby” to Miami, he was hit with more bad news. The city of Miami had been planning for a new aquarium attraction since 1941 (Miami Seaquarium website), and decided that the time was right to close the aquarium on the Prins Valdemar. They had long considered it an “eyesore.” The Miami Herald reported on March 24th, 1949, that the City Commission requested that the owner of the boat, R.J. Walters, remove the vessel when the lease expired on June 10, 1949.
George Vathis, the Department of Conservation supervisor revoked Stout’s original capture and exhibit permit, ordering Sam Stout to release both manatees. Stout argued that if “Baby” were released into the bay, he would never be able to survive, and the citizens of Miami agreed that it would be cruel to release “Baby”, because he wouldn’t know how to feed himself. Stout requested that he be permitted to give Baby (now called Snooty) to Bradenton, and was allowed to contact Hardin with the offer.
Hardin, on behalf of the City of Bradenton, Manatee County Commissioners, Manatee County Fish and Game Association, Bradenton Chamber of Commerce, and the South Florida Museum, accepted. On June 14, 1949, a letter to Hardin from Sam Stout heralded the arrival of Baby in Bradenton on the 20th of June 1949 – at which time he was just a month and a few days shy of 1 year in age. For this, Samuel Stout only accepted $75.00 to cover the cost of transporting Baby to his new home. He also requested that Baby live in salt water.
By February 9, 1950, the Miami Herald reported that the city took possession of the ship in a trade with R. J. Walters for the $7,500 bond he had posted in 1946. On February 21, 1950, city orders to empty and demolish the ship were carried out. Without the boat, there could be no aquarium. The Miami Herald reported that a sad Sam Stout watched as his tanks were torn up and the adult female manatee, Lady, along with many of Samuel Stout’s fish, were released into the bay or ocean to fend for themselves.
Until his death in January of 1955, Stout continued to visit Snooty, his animal friend with whom he shared such a bond, in his new home in Bradenton. Amazingly, next month, when Snooty reaches his 60th birthday, he will have exceeded Samuel Stout’s longevity.
I believe I first saw Snooty in the early 1950’s, when I was eight or nine and he was kept in an outdoor tank on a pier or near a marina — I can’t remember exactly. I remember feeding him a carrot and being fascinated at the way his upper, split lips worked. Since then, my son has fed Snooty in his big new tank — and as soon as I can get my grandson to come to West Florida with mom-mom and me, he will have the opportunity. We’ll be three generations of Snooty-feeders!
Between 1957 and 1961, I would visit “baby Snoots” as we then called him, and the pranhas exhibit as well, at the Memorial Pier, where there was also a radio station. Two of my friends lived on hosueboats docked at the pier.
I recall that my cousin, Ron Vargo, who started the first planetarium at Bradenton, started calling our famous manatee ‘Snooty.’ I did research on the manatee diet and learned that snooty hadn’t grown as big as he should have, probably because he wasn’t getting enough variety in his diet. I began feeding Snooty pineapples and other fruits, and the skin condition he had suffered from cleared up.
I would scratch him and get all the itchy spots. I did not see Snooty between 1961 and 1987, when I returned to Bradenton with four of my five children after a divorce. At that time heard he wasn’t in the od round tank on the pier anymore, but now had a wonderful new aquarium.
When I went to visit Snooty, i called out his name, and that manatee REMEMBERED ME! hE TRIED TO GET OUT OF THE TANK, HE CAME AT ME SO FAST AND HARD AND FULL OF JOY.
I talked to the new caretaker, and learned that Snooty’s diet was not quite as good as it once had been…he wasn’t getting as much variety, and pineapples were no longer on the list, as well as other foods Snooty liked….I believe he again had a skin condition, as well.
I currently live in Europe, but will never forget that Snooty REMEBERED ME! This was before he had a another manatee in the tank with him, which I hear has now occurred(?)…
Snooty’s remembering my voice, after over 25 years, when he has heard the voices of so many visitors, illustrates the intelligence and memory capacity of the manatee.
JVB