Snooty, the oldest known manatee in the world, died Saturday, just one day after celebrating his 69th birthday.
The South Florida Museum in Bradenton announced Snooty's passing Sunday afternoon.
“Our initial findings indicate that Snooty’s death was a heartbreaking accident and we’re all quite devastated about his passing,” museum CEO Brynne Anne Besio said in the statement.
An initial investigation seems to show that an underwater door leading to a plumbing area, which is normally bolted shut, had been open. Snooty was able to swim in but was not able to get out.
The animal was no longer alive when workers reached him. Three other, smaller manatees that also swam in were able to swim out.
Besio added that the museum staff members "deeply mourn his passing."
Snooty was born on July 21, 1948, at the Miami Aquarium and Tackle Company, marking the first recorded birth of a manatee in human care. He moved to Bradenton in 1949.
A necropsy, or an animal autopsy, will be performed at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Marine Mammal Pathobiology Laboratory in St. Petersburg.