"Snooty - the Manatee"

July 2008 - Celebration of his 60th Birthday

(See article below, near the end)

         They are known as gentle giants, the West Indian manatees and native to the Caribbean and Florida coastal shallow waters. In the summertime, they can sometimes be found along the Gulf and the Atlantic seaboard coasts. These aquatic marine mammals are also referred to as ‘sea cows’ and have been known to live up to sixty years.

       The most famous manatee will be marking his 60th birthday in 2008. He is named “Snooty” and is the first manatee to be successfully born in captivity. His parents were part of the aquatic attractions of the landmark Miami Aquarium along Biscayne Bay in Miami, Florida. The owner of the Miami Aquarium, Capt. Richard J. Walters, had always taken special care of his vast marine life and the manatees were always beloved by the children visiting.

      Snooty’s mother was named “Lady” and she gave birth to ‘Baby Snoots’, as he was first named, on Wednesday, July 21, 1948. His birth was the first ever recorded and documented for a manatee. This new addition was the star attraction at the Miami Aquarium for months.

SPECIAL ADDITION:    Some additional new research has turned up that at the Miami Aquarium on Friday, May 23, 1930, a baby manatee was born to the Aquarium manatee named 'Maggie Murphy'.  The new baby weighed about 40 pounds and by 3 months old weighed about 150 pounds.  The baby was called 'Sonny'.  Further research about 'Sonny'  found that the baby manatee at about 18 months old was being transferred to another tank one day and was 'dropped to the floor' by accident.  The baby, 'Sonny' did not survive. Conclusion, it does appear there was another documented birth of a manatee at the Miami Aquarium long before 'Snooty'. but it did not live long.

        Over the next few months Capt. Walters was having land leasing and permit problems over his aquarium with the City of Miami. In June 1949, Baby Snoots was on loan for the De Soto Heritage Festival (also known as De Soto Celebration) on the west coast of Florida. With the announcement of the closing of the Miami Aquarium due to pressures from the city, Capt. Walters (see notes below) gave Baby Snoots permanently to the South Florida Museum in Bradenton, Florida.

SPECIAL RESEARCH & NOTES ADDED - MARCH 2008 (Working with Paulette Carr - granddaughter of Samuel Stout)

Capt. Richard J. Walters owned the "Prins Valdemar" for decades.
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 Company) in its final years, approximately 1947 - 1950.
It was during that time that a manatee named "Lady" was rescued from Biscayne Bay by Samuel Stout and a short time later she gave birth to 'Baby Snoots' aka Snooty at the Aquarium.
When the Aquarium was forced to close down, Samuel Stout saw to it that the baby manatee had a permanent home in Bradenton.

"Snooty's Life"

          Having been raised by humans, Snooty is always pleased to show off for an audience and has been the center of attention for the Museum. For decades he lived in a tank at the Bradenton’s Memorial Pier at Old Main Street, original home of the South Florida Museum. The Parker Manatee Aquarium in Bradenton, just south of Tampa, is a 60,000 gallon tank especially constructed in November 1993 for Snooty, his adult name. Very socialized and loving attention, even an occasion rub on the head, Snooty has been a favorite of visitors for decades. It is believed that over 1 million people have seen Snooty up close.

          Today, Snooty weighs about 1,220 pounds and is 9 feet 4 inches in length. He is a vegetarian, like all manatees, consuming about 80 to 90 pounds of lettuce, carrots, cabbage, sweet potato, collards, apples and vitamin supplements each day. His favorite treat is pineapple.

     He also serves as an ambassador to educate the public on protecting all manatees and other endangered species. He has been and continues to be studied for behavior and eating characteristics by scientists. His birthday every July is a huge celebration and part of the Wildlife Awareness Festival in Bradenton.

        The web site for the South Florida Museum has a live web cam on Snooty in his large tank, so anyone with Internet access can view Snooty.  NOTE:  the web site with the live cam may be undergoing some changes.

Site address: www.southfloridamuseum.org/aquarium.asp

         On Saturday, July 19, 2008, the Museum put on a wonderful birthday celebration to mark Snooty's 60th birthday.  There were over 5,000 people throughout the day offering their best wishes to Snooty.  A special bundle of vegetables and flowers was sent to Snooty by Alice Walters Wallace - one of the early individuals in Miami to have swam with Snooty and his mother, 'Lady' in 1948-1949.  The St. Petersburg Times (article by Craig Pittman - July 19th) gave a timeline of events in Snooty's life and the interview with Alice Wallace.  Snooty's actual birth date - July 21st.

Submitted by:  Alice L. Luckhardt, author of  "Prins Valdemar - Glory To Tragedy", FLORIDA MONTHLY MAGAZINE, January 2005 and “Miami and the Prins Valdemar“, SOUTH FLORIDA HISTORICAL MAGAZINE, December 2006.  Plus many articles published in historical and genealogical magazines (Family Chronicle, Genealogical Helper, History, Florida Monthly, Internet Genealogy, Ancestry, & Discovering Family History).

The photo of Snooty below was provided by the South Florida Museum.

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.  Over the last few weeks, Alice Luckhardt and I have been working together to iron out the differences and inconsistencies in our stories and it has been a pleasure to work with her! 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 the Miami Aquarium Tackle Company and Snooty. 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.