Late this afternoon, I found a manatee dead and floating next to our dock.  Another manatee (seen to the left of the deceased one) kept nudging her.  Called Mote Marine and they contacted Sarasota Police Department to come with their marine patrol boat and tow the dead manatee back to their site and it will be transported to the lab for an autopsy to determine the cause of death.  The Mote Marine biologist who came out to the dock to check on the living manatee said they expect it will be red tide, but they want to be sure.  The dead manatee was a female and was about 10 feet long and had not been floating very long.   The other manatee followed the police boat as it was leaving our dock.  Extra is the police boat getting ready to transport the manatee.