Added to the chronicles of celebrity tourists and vacationers that have descended upon New York City in the year 2006 is one that is arguably the most unusual of them all.

A sea creature, upwards of a thousand pounds and a cousin to the elephant, which dwarfs the coyote, the deer, the raccoon, and the dolphin New York City visitors that preceded it.

A sea creature that, at hundreds of miles north of its natural habitat off the coast of Florida, has most likely made the longest and most arduous journey of its life.

A docile earth dweller, with a pudgy-nosed face and a sweet-potato-shaped body that could even be considered cute: a Manatee.

Over the past week, boaters and internet bloggers have been energetically tracking this manatee in its lumbering expedition northward along the Atlantic Coast and up the Hudson River.

John H. Vargo, the publisher of Boating on the Hudson Magazine, put out an alert last week, much to the incredulity of some boaters.

“Some were laughing about it, because it couldn’t possibly be true,” Mr. Vargo said.

The manatee has been spotted at 23rd Street near Chelsea Piers, West 125th Street, and later in Westchester County. It appeared to be in good health.

Randy Shull, a boater from Ossining, spotted the manatee about 4:30 p.m. yesterday while his 21-foot boat was floating at Kingsland Point Park in Sleepy Hollow.

“It was gigantic,” Mr. Shull said. “When we saw it surface, its back was just mammoth.”

It is very unusual, but not unprecedented for manatees to travel this far north — these seaweed-munching sea creatures are commonly associated with the warm waters of Florida.

Manatees have been reported along the shores of Long Island and even as far north as Rhode Island. It is unusual, however, for a manatee to be spotted inland in a river this far north.

“I’m 70 years old, and I’ve been on the river my entire life,” Mr. Vargo said. “I’ve seen dolphins and everything else, but never a manatee.”

This sea dwelling cute faced manatee is on earth’s endangered list, and some politicians, including the Governor of Florida, want him taken off the list – some boaters down Florida way don’t like speed restrictions designed to help the remaining very slow moving manatees avoid more speed boat injuries and fatalities.

Maybe this particular manatee is a very intelligent NY tourist, and in search of safer waters to frolic about in.