BRADENTON (970 WFLA) -- Snooty the Manatee, born in captivity in Miami and a nearly lifelong resident of the South Florida Museum in Bradenton, has died at 69 in what's being called an accident.
Officials say Snooty somehow made it through a hatch used to access plumbing for the system that provides life support for Snooty and three other manatees at the museum. Those three -- named Randall, Baca and Gale -- are unharmed.
The museum says divers inspect the habitat daily and found nothing amiss prior to Snooty's death. It promises the circumstances will be thoroughly investigated.
The museum's CEO also says there will be an announcement about an event to memorialize Snooty.
Snooty arrived in Bradenton in 1949 and moved permanently to the museum. He was named Manatee County's official mascot in 1979. The museum estimates more than a million people saw Snooty during his lifetime.