WaterNotes

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is asking for the public’s help today to locate and rescue a manatee in the Pompano Beach area. While I realize not everyone who reads WaterNotes is in Florida, let alone near Pompano, I felt it worthwhile to post the hands-on call for assistance. The manatee in question is [...]

I’ve been keeping tabs on a number of topics covered in previous posts here at WaterNotes that I wanted to update: Rita, one of the celebrity manatees released so far this year, continues to make progress out in the wild. Her satellite tracks show a steady movement around the immediate area near her release point [...]

Pervasive myths abound in our culture when it comes to wildlife. Well, myths, paranoias, and misconceptions abound in our culture, period. One of my least favorite? The West Indian manatee is not a native species in the state of Florida. Its hard to pinpoint where this idea originated. While its easy to say there is [...]

Rehabilitation centers around Florida have released a relative wave of manatees in the past few weeks including grown-up orphans and older sea cows with injuries deemed survivable in the wild. Disney’s Epcot center, while I was there during DiveQuest, spoke of the pending release of Bock, a younger male, with serious hope for his future. [...]

Manatee lovers everywhere should be rejoicing! The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission just released their 2009 survey report for the population of West Indian manatees living in state of Florida waters. Surveys are conducted via aerial observation at known congregation spots during winter time cool snaps in the state that drive manatees into warmer waters. [...]

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute released a preliminary report on manatee mortality in the state for the last year. The 2008 mortality figure of 337 deaths is under the five year average for manatee losses (estimated at 357). Unfortunately, the two highest categories for loss were above the average and in fact the [...]

This video absolutely breaks my heart and is a scathing example of ecotourism gone horribly wrong.  We are literally loving our manatees to the point of harm.  I often hear from (probably) well meaning people that they have been to swim with the manatees in Crystal River and other [...]