Welcome to the Manatee Project


This is a picture of one of the signs you see when entering a manatee area. During three hours of field work today I counted 12 of them. Although our boat was traveling at a no wake speed most of the day, and never more than 10mph, we did see some boaters and people on jet skis traveling very fast in the area. There was also a dead manatee picked up within miles of this sign earlier this morning.	These are the three types of sea grass found in the Sarasota Bay area. The one on the very left is called shoal grass and is the least favorite of the manatees. The two strands in the middle which are cylindrical are manatee grass which ironically is only their second favorite. On the far right is turtle grass which makes up a great portion of their diet. Can you make a conjecture as to why that might be the case?

This is the first manatee spotted this afternoon at Pansy Bayou. You are looking at his snout and back. What natural phenomenon in this picture, besides the 87 degree temperatures, is making identification and scar sketches difficult for the scientist. (Which in this case is me!)	What a clear photo! This manatee swam right up below where I was standing on a wall next to the water. What identifying marks do you notice and where are they located? Using the computer system in the morning, along with this clear photo, I will be able to determine his or her name.

I learned today that the correct term for the paddle-shaped tail of the manatee is its fluke. This term was not accepted as a manatee descriptor until last year, but is being used more by manatee researchers. Notice the shape that it leaves behind in the water. This is called a footprint!	This was the most exciting part of my day. That snout you see belongs to a calf, who just got off of mom's back to take a breath of air on her own. Mom is difficult to see, but if you look for her identifying scar carefully, you can spot her!

This was a manatee that surfaced twice for us. Notice the fading footprint. Can you find this manatee above?	Manatees tend to bubble just before they come up for air. On the boat we have to be keen observers and look for these bubbles to alert the camera person. Manatees only come up for air for about 3-4 seconds and go back down for 2-3 minutes. They rarely come up in the same place twice. We have to look for the slightest change in the water's surface in order to get a clear picture.

Again, its sad yet interesting to look at the scars that are so unique to each manatee. These allow scientists to recognize them by name and track their migration patterns and seasonal behavior.	Notice in this photo how the valves are wide open. The manatee is prepared, the minute he breaks the plane of the water, to take a nice deep breath!