Welcome to the Manatee Project

First of all I must tell you that spending an hour talking to all of you across the country was certainly a nice way to start my day. I was feeling a bit homesick, and it was wonderful to see all of your smiling faces. I was very impressed with all that you know and how closely you have been following my journals. Mike I was especially proud that you remembered the word telemetry! Nice job. Tomorrow's conference will be a bit different since it will be Mrs. Frederick, Teresa and myself. A class from North Kingstown will also be involved which should make it a very interesting conference. The trailer that you see below is Studio B here at Mote, and that is where I spoke with you from today.

You must have brought us some luck today, because immediately after leaving the dock we had our first manatee sighting. A mom and her very young calf were spotted in City Island grass flats. Can you make a conjecture based upon the picture below that indicates how this area got its name?

As you can see, the morning was a bit overcast, but it did clear up and reach a high of 93 degrees today. It was terribly hot on the boat. Good thing I was prepared with some extra sunscreen on my nose!

The calf that we saw today was certainly the smallest one that I have documented. Teresa said that it was probably only 3 to 6 months old. She was impressed by its advanced swimming skills however. Usually when we see a calf, even a larger one, they are generally clinging onto mom's side or riding on her back. This little guy was doing some amazing tail dives and other swim moves that certainly made us smile.

The water was murky and there was a bit of glare, but see if you can spot this little manatee calf in the water. He never came close enough to the boat for a closer shot. Notice how difficult it is to find him in the water. Teresa has an amazingly trained eye and is able to see these manatees so well. We are certainly getting better at looking for the signs that one is present, and keeping an eye on his movements once he decides he is tired of having his picture taken. Two other manatees joined the mom and calf to get in on the action. Teresa seemed to get some nice documentation of them as well.

Our Earthwatch group is also getting very good at working together and dividing up our roles.

As you can see above, Mrs. Frederick was recording data in the tower while Teresa took the pictures. Gigi, another Earthwatch volunteer, trolled us around ever so cautiously. Diane, a volunteer from Oregon, was helping call out the clock and taking some photos of her own. I was busy taking a salinity number with the refractometer. The salinity in City Island grass flats was 41 parts per thousand, which seems quite average for this area.

The refractometer has a slide that we cover in salt water. After the slide is shut in, I take a look through the hole to read what looks almost like a thermometer on the inside. When we are finished using the refractometer we must clean it thoroughly on the boat with distilled water. Why do you think that this is a necessary step?

This photo was snapped of the mother manatee as she was about to submerge. Notice the large scar on her back. She is not a manatee that has been identified here at Mote, so today was quite a successful sighting. The scar on this manatee allowed us to follow her movements through the murky water. Since manatees are gray, they tend to blend with the greenish/gray water and are hard to locate when they dive below. The white of this manatees scar was so large, however, that we were able to spot the scar when she was very deep into the water. This allowed us to get closer to her and take some important pictures, without being concerned about bumping her with the boat.

Another two readings that I had to take today at the sighting were air and water temperatures. The air was 87.5 degrees at this early point in my morning. The water was slightly less at 83.4 degrees. When taking the water temperature, I have to submerge the probe at the end of the thermometer, and wait for the digital screen to register a number. If you look carefully you can see the probe below. It is metal and is near the bottom right corner of the photograph.

After this sighting, our group took MERV into an area called Siesta Key. There is a large shoal bed there and it is a common feeding ground for manatees. Our luck did wear off at this point however, and we were not able to make any more documentations for the day. Sometimes not seeing any manatees for hours at a time can be a bit frustrating. It seems as if you are looking for a needle in a haystack, and you do a lot of staring at the water. All of this keen observation certainly pays off though, and makes it that much more satisfying to find one!

As Teresa drives the boat and we all look out to find manatees, she generally answers all of our questions and tells us some interesting manatee stories. Today she and I were discussing all of you. She said that she never imagined how hard she would have to work once she became a scientist, but that it is such a rewarding job. Teresa feels that she is working on a project that will make a difference in the lives of many manatees.

We completed our day today working on a messier aspect of being a marine biologist. In Matlacha canal yesterday, we removed some temperature probes that had been tied to docks all winter. These probes are specialized thermometers that record and save daily temperatures over a period of time. They are protected in the water by a white plastic tube that attracts the growth of algae, tube worms, bivalves and barnacles. Even after they soaked over night, these probes were encrusted.

It took us about two hours, using metal scrapers and scrub brushes, to get all of the barnacles off of these tubes. It was a messy, smelly, difficult job, but one that is quite necessary in this field.

Needless to say I learned once again that science is hard work and not always glamorous. We did, however, complete this rather difficult task and that did provide some sense of satisfaction at the end of the day. Studying manatees isn't just about the animals. Scientists need to explore their habitat in every possible way. By helping out with these temperature probes, I did get to play a part in that.