Scientists worry Gulf oil spill may endanger manatees headed for Mobile Bay

Scientists are worried that manatees moving along the Florida coast and headed for Mobile Bay could be swimming into trouble.

A pod of manatees was seen and photographed off Destin, Fla., Thursday. There have been sightings in Orange Beach, Fowl River and Fairhope in the last two weeks, according to Ruth Carmichael, a University of South Alabama marine biologist.

Bama, the manatee tagged in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta last summer, is in Apalachicola Bay in Florida, slowly wending her way back to Alabama, according to the latest data from the satellite tag, Carmichael said.

"We know the manatees are here and are migrating along the coast. There is more and more information coming in suggesting there is a lot of oil moving toward shore underwater. We have to assume we are having our waters exposed," she said.