Beginning in April, six manatees frequently seen in the Tampa Bay area and along the west coast of Florida will become the latest additions to Save the Manatee Club's (SMC) Adopt-A-Manatee program. SMC is working in partnership on the Tampa Bay adoption program with researchers from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). The FDEP researchers are responsible for tracking manatees on Florida's west coast.
The creation of the Tampa Bay adoption program marks the first time that west coast manatees outside of Homosassa Springs State Wildlife Park have been added to SMC's list of available adoptees. The Tampa Bay manatees chosen for the Adopt-A-Manatee program include three males and three females. Ziggy, Jemp, and Vector are the eligible male manatees, and the female manatees include Elsie, Ragtail, and Ginger. Most of these manatees spend all or part of the year in Tampa Bay.
All six manatees are part of the FDEP photo-identification research project. Many adult manatees living in the wild are scarred from encounters with boats or entanglement in fishing gear. Researchers use these scars to identify individual animals. They observe and take photos of manatees gathered at warm water refuges in the winter and at other areas that manatees frequent year-round. By documenting the sighting date, location, and behavior of an individual manatee over the course of time, researchers can learn many things about manatee habitat, migration patterns, social structure, and annual survival rates.
Adoptive "parents" of the Tampa Bay manatees receive a photo of their manatee, their manatee's biography, and an adoption certificate. They also receive a scar pattern sheet that depicts the identifying marks of the manatee and a map that shows their manatee's favorite "hangout" areas along Florida's west coast. In addition, they will receive the Save the Manatee Club Newsletter four times a year. FDEP researchers will give updates on the Tampa Bay manatees in the newsletter. Individuals can adopt a manatee for $20 annually.
Family adoptions are $30, and school classes can adopt a manatee for $10. A portion of the proceeds from the Tampa Bay Adopt-A-Manatee program will be spent on public awareness, education, rescue, and research efforts concerning manatees in and around Tampa Bay. These efforts will include television and radio public service announcements, public awareness signs, informational decals for boaters, and manatee education kiosks.
The Tampa Bay manatee adoption program is a pilot project, designed to increase public awareness among Florida citizens and visitors. The new adoption program was initially suggested by members of the Manatee Awareness Coalition (MAC) in the Tampa Bay area. The formation of MAC was a recommendation of the Tampa Bay Estuary Program's (TBEP) Manatee Protection Task Force. In addition to TBEP, the Coalition is made up of representatives from Tampa Bay groups such as the Florida Marine Research Institute (FMRI), Tampa Electric Company, and Tampa Bay Watch. Save the Manatee Club is also a member group of MAC.
"The Tampa Bay adoption program and other local programs that may follow are important because Floridians share the manatee's habitat," says SMC Executive Director Judith Vallee. "This program will increase awareness that manatees are out there, sharing the water with people who use it for recreational purposes. There is a database with more than a decade of information on manatees and habitat in Tampa Bay, so we know where protection measures should be implemented. We argued strongly for additional regulatory measures versus a purely voluntary approach, but the final recommendation of the task force was to use a strong education approach and monitor boater compliance with the voluntary slow speed zones in some areas of the bay. Although we are concerned about whether voluntary compliance will be successful, we are willing to give it a try, and we sincerely hope it works."
FMRI is currently conducting a baseline study to determine how boaters are using Tampa Bay. Later, another study will be done to determine whether boaters are complying with voluntary slow speed zones in Tampa Bay. Volunteer monitors are needed for both projects. For more information, please call Tampa Bay Estuary Program Volunteer Coordinator Tabitha Whalen at (727) 896-5320.
For more information about manatees, manatee protection tips for boaters, or the manatee adoption program, call Save the Manatee Club at 1-800-432-JOIN (5646) or access the SMC Web site on the Internet at http://www.savethemanatee.org. For more information about manatee research, contact the FDEP Florida Marine Research Institute at (727) 896-8626 or visit their Web site at http://www.fmri.usf.edu/manatees.htm. For more information about the Tampa Bay Estuary Program, call (727) 893-2765 or visit their Web site at http://www.tbep.org.
