A FOND FAREWELL TO LIL ’ JOE , INIGO , AND LOU While EPCOT ’ s role with the Manatee Rescue & Rehabilitation Partnership is to help rehabilitate manatees and get them back into the wild , The Seas previously housed long-term residents who may never be able to be released off Florida ’ s coast , simply because they wouldn ’ t survive . The three recent residents have now all been relocated to other accredited facilities .
In collaboration with the MRP , Disney is shifting its focus to manatees who need critical care and will ( hopefully ) return to the wild more quickly . Those manatees in need of critical care will swim in the guest-facing facilities where the longerterm residents formally swam . While I ’ m looking forward to meeting these new manatees , I am also sad to have said goodbye to Lil ’ Joe , Lou , and Inigo one last time .
Lou the manatee , who has a partly amputated tail from a boat strike , was a long-term resident of EPCOT ’ s Seas Pavilion ; in fact , he ’ d been floating in those waters before Nemo and his friends moved into the pavilion in 2006 . Last year , however , we bid farewell to Lou , who was relocated as part of a much larger shuffle of manatees throughout Manatee Rescue & Rehabilitation Partnership ’ s network .
When Lou was relocated in the fall of 2024 , the Manatee Rescue & Rehabilitation Partnership introduced Inigo to the habitat to be Lil ’ Joe ’ s new companion . We didn ’ t have long to get to know Inigo ; as part of Disney ’ s shift to providing short-term , critical care , Inigo moved to the Gulfarium in Destin-Fort Walton Beach in January 2025 .
Lil ’ Joe was rescued in 1989 as an orphan , weighing only 42 pounds . Without his mother , from whom manatees nurse for a couple of years , Lil ’ Joe had no chance of survival in the wild .
Over the years , Lil ’ Joe ( who is not so little anymore ) was cared for at various zoos before coming to Disney . Animal care experts have also tried to release Lil ’ Joe back into the wild multiple times , without success . At this point in time , Lil ’ Joe is too sensitive to changes in his environment ; he moved to the Gulfarium with Inigo earlier this year .
HELPING THE MANATEES While the manatee population has increased throughout the last 60 years , they still face plenty of threats and rely on human efforts to survive . So how can we help ?
Whether you live near fresh or salt water , avoid using fertilizers , herbicides , and pesticides , as these can enter waterways and impact manatees and other aquatic wildlife . Participate in beach cleanups , and volunteer with manatee conservation organizations , which often have events throughout the year .
And whether you ’ re a full-fledged Floridian or simply a visitor , be on the lookout for manatees whenever you ’ re out on the water . Keep your boat slow , and report any manatee sightings to the Dauphin Island Sea Lab ’ s Manatee Sighting Network . Never interact with manatees in the wild , as this can encourage them to trust humans — and their boats .
Finally , the manatees at EPCOT are great advocates for their friends who live in the wild . After learning about them at The Seas Pavilion , share that knowledge with friends and family who might not know about the issues manatees face and how they can make simple changes at home to help .
TOP : We ’ ll miss the long-term resident manatees , but we ’ re excited to meet new friends as Disney provides them the critical care they need . PHOTO BY JUDD HELMS