the manatee, swimming
slowly and thoughtfully,
as heads of iceberg lettuce
float gently down

eating his green lunch
slowly and thoughtfully,
his peaceful life

Butterball, an Amazonian manatee, was rescued from a fish market in Colombia
by a Steinhart trustee in 1967. Butterball was a calf, with an infected harpoon wound.
He was flown back to San Francisco on a coach seat and taken to the Steinhart,
where his wound and infection were treated. Butterball died in September 1984 from
pneumonia caused by a mycobacteria that commonly causes tuberculosis in fish.
He was the only manatee of his species on public display in the country.