For many years the Alachua County Environmental Protection Department has been a role model for other counties and we salute their wisdom and foresight.
Given that our shameless state has decided to forego the manatees’ health as well as our environment in favor of money, programs such as this are sorely needed if this iconic animal is to survive. Here we are seeking volunteers to do the State of Florida’s job, while our legislators are busy seeking re-election and lining their pockets.
Florida’s choice to allow death-dealing pollution in the form of excessive nutrients has threatened the very existence of the manatee.
The state’s poor decisions has resulted in shooting itself in both feet since the loss of ruined ecotourism and recreation dollars may soon surpass what it would cost to actually head toward a sustainable system.
That won’t happen until our legislature grows a backbone OR until we can amend our constitution with THE RIGHT TO CLEAN AND HEALTHY WATERS.
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Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum.
jim.tatum@oursantaferiver.org
– A river is like a life: once taken,
it cannot be brought back © Jim Tatum
Help document North Central Florida’s manatees
Lindsey R. Kelly
Special to Gainesville Sun USA TODAY NETWORK
July 31, 2022
The Alachua County Environmental Protection Department has started a new volunteer citizen science program to document how manatees are using North Central Florida’s rivers and springs. A partnership with Save the Manatee Club and the Florida Park Service, the Florida Springs Heartland Manatee Sighting Network will encourage citizens to report when and where they see these iconic marine mammals. During the winter months from October through March, Network volunteers will count manatees from the banks of area springs and rivers in and around Alachua County. Data gathered by this project will be used to influence and guide policies and restoration projects in our region.
Using graphics and QR codes linked to websites, the network is also encouraging boaters, paddlers and swimmers to show respect for these mammals by using good “manatee manners” that include keeping at least two kayak lengths away from them; not feeding manatees or giving them water; not following, chasing or touching them; and not walking on the submerged aquatic vegetation that they eat.
Manatee populations are monitored during the winter season by different agencies, but the focus tends to be on areas that manatees use as primary warm-water sanctuaries. The springs of the Suwannee, Santa Fe and Ichetucknee rivers are considered secondary warm-water habitats. These waterways do not have as many protections for manatees as do the primary refuges; however, the secondary sanctuaries may be increasing in importance, especially since poor water quality in other parts of Florida has contributed to destruction of the underwater plants that supply food for these large vegetarians.
Manatees are found in our area’s rivers and springs all year, but they are more common during
the winter when they need the warm springs — greater than 68 degrees Fahrenheit — as refuges from colder ocean and river waters.
Unlike other marine mammals that have blubber or fur to stay warm, manatees have very little fat in their body. They are large because their intestines have to be long enough to absorb as many nutrients as possible from the plants they eat — their intestines are about 150 feet long and they need seven days to digest their food! Manatees also have long lungs that run the length of their body and a large, heavy skeleton to counteract the buoyancy caused by the gas that accumulates from digesting plant material.
To learn more about the Florida Springs Heartland Manatee Sighting Network, to find the volunteer form to complete and to find Save the Manatee Club’s form for reporting sightings, visit AlachuaCountyWater.org.
The network is funded by the Fish and Wildlife Foundation of Florida’s Protect Florida Springs Tag Grant program.
Lindsey R. Kelly is a senior environmental specialist with Alachua County Environmental Protection Department’s Water Resources Division. She has a master’s degree in fisheries and aquatic science from the University of Florida and leads the Homosassa SpringsWatch citizen science group for the Howard T. Odum Florida Springs Institute. This column is part of The Sun’s Messages from the Springs Heartland series. More pieces from the series can be at bit.ly/springsheartland.
