Longo set free

+ Longo set free
Manatee County’s resident manatee, Snooty, bid farewell to the last of his two roommates Jan.16.

The South Florida Museum released Longo, one of two manatees who had been undergoing rehabilitation in the museum’s Bishop Manatee Aquarium with Snooty, at the Manatee Viewing Center at TECO’s warm water site in Apollo Beach.

Longo was rescued in January 2012, on Longboat Key.

At the time of Longo’s release, he weighed 715 pounds, compared with his weight of 271 pounds at the time of his rescue.

The museum released Snooty’s other roommate, Cheeno, Jan. 7, in the Orange River in Fort Myers.