Manatees left stranded on dried out ocean floor after Hurricane Irma 'sucks water away’

A pair of manatees were nearly victims of the deadly Hurricane Irma after the storm left them stranded on the dried-out ocean floor.

The animals found themselves high and dry when the water was sucked away near Sarasota, on Florida’s west coast, by the storm.

It was only when local Michael Sechler went out for a walk that the manatees were noticed – and a rescue operation soon got under way.

He said: “Went out to the bay and saw two objects out where the water receded so we took off our shoes and walked out through the shells to find two beached manatees.

“One wasn’t moving, the other was breathing and had water in its eyes.

“My friends and I couldn’t move these massive animals ourselves, and we called every service we could think of, but no one answered.

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“We gave them as much water as we could, hoping the rain and storm surge [would] come soon enough to save them.”

Police and more locals soon turned up and they managed to carry the stranded animals back to shore.

Marcelo Clavijo, who joined in on the rescue mission, said: “It was a pretty cool experience.

“We rolled them on the tarp and then dragged them a 100 [yards].”

The animals swam off into the water once they were rescued, according to witnesses.

Irma has been downgraded from category three to one but still has winds that could reach up to 75mph.

Four deaths have been linked to the hurricane, while parts of Miami remain underwater.