Sea Cows Invade Richmond

Who doesn't love a good sea cow?

If you're a Richmonder with a passion for manatees, it's your lucky week.  A forlorn mammal is puttering up and down the James River, reports the Star Exponent.

A sergeant with the Dinwiddie County Sheriff’s Office noticed the lovable gray ball of fat floating in the water this week when he was bass fishing near the I-95 bridge on Tuesday.  He saw it again on Wednesday, this time near Chester.

Other witnesses have seen the portly creature floating along the water, and pictures they've sent in have caused Virginia's Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to confirm that the beast is floating in the James.

The paper reports that manatee sightings aren't uncommon in the southern parts of the Chesapeake, but that it's relatively rare for one to swim up as far as Richmond.  The last one visited Shockoe Bottom in 2002.

The manatee is likely headed back south to warmer waters, returning to its home, where it can help assist in writing "Family Guy."