Welcome to the Manatee Project


Notice all of the coastal development in Sarasota. What negative effects can this have on manatee populations in the area?	Over 1,000 people move to Florida every day. As you can see from this photo taken on my flight the area is getting quite populated.

This is a beautiful shot from the plane of a landform that we commonly see in Florida. Mote Marine Laboratories is located on this landform. What is it called?	We will be spending a great deal of time on the boat in this area, which juts out into Sarasota Bay. Imagine how many manatees were swimming just below my plane as I passed over?

The observation area is on private property and is located behind this home. As mentioned in my journal, this man allows Mote Marine to use his land for these daily surveys since his home is located in the heart of this sanctuary.	Take a look at the beautiful observation area that we will use to collect data on manatees. It is located in a manatee sanctuary, and will be used for a land survey. The manatees swim right up next to the concrete wall. Teresa said they will be only inches away from us while we are there. I will be sure to get some great pictures there, and send you some of the data sheets that we will fill out at this location daily.

Research here at Mote is done in the laboratory connected to the aquarium where Hugh and Buffett live. I am inside of this building typing this journal to you!	There are hundreds of palm trees, which certainly lets me know that I am not in Rhode Island anymore!

Notice the mode of transportation here for research scientists like myself. Good thing they have these maps everywhere!	This is the house that I will be living in for the next two weeks, along with the other Earthwatch volunteers. It is directly across from Lido Beach, where I plan to look for nesting turtles later in the week.