It's a story people are still talking about: 19 stuck manatees rescued from a Brevard County drainage pipe. They're all free and now back safely swimming in the Indian River.

The amazing scene played out all night Monday and into early Tuesday. Now changes are in the works to make sure something like this doesn't happen again.

Workers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, SeaWorld and local emergency personnel went late into the night to pull manatee after manatee from a tiny Satellite Beach drainage pipe.

The pipe was connected to a culvert in the area of Cassia Boulevard between Thyme Street and South Patrick Drive, near Surfside Elementary School.

"It was just a well-oiled machine. Once they figured out what they were doing, how to get them out, they were just popping them out," said Angela Piscitelli.

Piscitelli and her 8-year-old son Dominick were at the canal earlier in the day and saw the group of manatees in the water.

Around dinnertime they turned on the news and were shocked to find out the same ones were stuck.

"Once they got them all out, it was pretty exciting," said Dominick.

One of the rescuers was Leo Cross of Florida Wildlife Trappers, who volunteers for FWC. He was right in the middle of the action.

His GoPro caught amazing video of some of the trapped sea cows. Cross said this rescue was the biggest one he's ever faced.

"Once we were able to get our little conveyor belt set up and was able to pluck them out of there, it just went so smooth," Cross said.

“You’re looking for signs of cold stress, signs of blunt injuries," said SeaWorld Orlando Supervisor of Animal Care Jon Peterson. "You’re looking for anything that would mean they need more care. In this case, every animal came out. A couple scrapes a little bit of bruising.”

Officials said there were no major injuries and each manatee was returned to a nearby pond that flows into the Indian River Lagoon.

“We work very well with Florida Fish and Wildlife,” Peterson said. “We have equipment that most people don’t have and we have the ability to be there as soon as the call is made.”

Meantime Tuesday, city workers put on a stronger, temporary grate over the pipe opening where the manatees swam in.

Satellite Beach City Manager Courtney Barker said they were in the process of putting a new one on it, knowing hundreds of manatees were in the area seeking warmer water during the recent cold snap.

"We just didn't move fast enough," Barker said.

Satellite Beach officials still want to welcome manatees to their warm canals when we experience cold snaps. But they are coming up with a plan to hopefully avoid this type of situation from happening again, and still keep area streets from flooding.