Overview

• The Texas Department of Transportation halted ferry construction and operations for several hours in late August after crews spotted a federally protected West Indian manatee near the Port Aransas work site.
• The animal showed no visible distress, lingered near ferry operations, then swam west toward Corpus Christi Bay, after which work on the ramps-and-landings upgrade resumed.
• The paused project is a $64 million overhaul of the Port Aransas ferry system’s ramps and landings, with TxDOT citing environmental stewardship protocols.
• Manatees are considered exceedingly rare in Texas waters, though their range can extend west during warmer months, and researchers estimate roughly 13,000 West Indian manatees worldwide.
• The sighting joins a string of unusual marine appearances on the Texas coast, as NOAA separately warns about endangered Rice’s whales in the Gulf and urges vessel-avoidance technology to reduce strikes.