Veterinarians at the Miami Seaquarium are rehabilitating a young manatee found emaciated near his dead mother in the mangroves near Tavernier Creek on Thursday.</p><p>The 5- to 6-month old calf, named Kahiki after the Kahiki Harbor subdivision on Plantation Key where it was brought to shore, weighed just 77 pounds -- nearly half the weight of a healthy calf.</p><p>"That's near a birth weight almost," said Seaquarium veterinarian Maya Rodriguez. "It's because he was not getting any nutrients from the mother."</p><p>The mother appeared to have been struck by a boat propeller and suffered extensive internal damage, according to officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.</p><p>Residents reportedly spotted the mother and calf more than a month ago in marinas and neighborhood canals near Tavernier Creek.</p><p>"At that time, it appeared the mother was moving and feeding OK," FWC manatee biologist John Cassady said. "The decision was to let them go and let the calf get a little bigger so we wouldn't put the stress of a capture on it."</p><p>On Wednesday, Cassady responded to another sighting of the pair and said he knew the mother was near death. Cassady placed a radio transmitter on the mother's tail to locate them on Thursday for a rescue.</p><p>Wildlife officials followed the signal to the mother's body, which was rolled over on its back in mangrove roots with the calf still by her side.</p><p>"She had died just within a day. If we had not gotten that call [on Wednesday] and put the tag on her, we would've never found the calf," Cassady said.</p><p>The calf is receiving daily antibiotic treatments and formula feeding in a heated pool at the Seaquarium, and his health has improved slightly, but he remains in critical condition, Rodriguez said.</p><p>If the calf recovers, it would likely stay at the Seaquarium for two years before it is large enough to be released into the wild, Rodriguez added.</p><p>The Miami Seaquarium is one of only three critical-care facilities for injured manatees in the state. This is the 10th manatee rescued and brought to the Seaquarium this year.</p><p>Residents who spot injured or distressed manatees and other wildlife are encouraged to call the FWC's wildlife alert hotline at (888) 404-3922.