For the third time this month, a manatee has been seen along the Grand Strand.

Nicole Adimey, with U.S. Fish and Wildlife, says her office in Jacksonville, North Carolina was contacted by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Wednesday.

Adimey said they were told a manatee was stranded in a culvert near Vista Drive and Ocean Boulevard just south of Surfside Beach.

Adimey and her manatee rescue team were going to make a trip up to the Grand Strand to help the manatee, when they received a follow up call from DNR that the manatee was no longer in the culvert.

Mantees are aquatic mammals that eat underwater plants and vegetation. They are gentle creatures. Because they are slow moving, they are often injured by passing boats.

Joe Ard, with SCDNR says they think a full moon high tide allowed to the manatee to get into the culvert. That same tide may have been what allowed the manatee to get back out.

Ard says it is illegal to feed or touch a manatee.

There's no confirmation on if this is the same manatee that was sighted first on August 3rd off the coast of Myrtle Beach. DNR says they also got a report of a sighting on August 10th.

It is not unheard of for manatees to make their way north to our area, but it isn't common. According to the Save the Mantee Club, "Manatees can be found in shallow, slow-moving rivers, estuaries, saltwater bays, canals, and coastal areas - particularly where seagrass beds or freshwater vegetation flourish. Manatees are a migratory species. Within the United States, they are concentrated in Florida in the winter. In summer months, they can be found as far west as Texas and as far north as Massachusetts, but summer sightings in Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina are more common."

Here's a link to video of a manatee swimming in Crystal River, Florida.

Stay with WPDE and CarolinaLive.com for updates as we get more information.