Sea to Shore Alliance in the News - Good Morning America
| | Executive Director Buddy Powell and Sea to Shore Alliance were recently
featured on Good Morning America for Sam Champion's "Living the Dream" segment
with Phillippe Cousteau. Click Here to
read the full story.
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Sea to Shore Alliance Response to Oil Crisis
Monica Ross - Behavioral Ecologist, Sea to Shore Alliance
| Like many
organizations concerned about the vast impacts from the Deepwater Horizon oil
spill crisis, Sea to Shore Alliance offered their expertise in response
to this unfortunate event. We have been involved in preliminary planning stages
for manatee emergency responses throughout the Gulf Coast. We conducted a pre-assessment
marine mammal distribution aerial survey along the intracoastal waterways of
Alabama with staff from Dauphin Island Sea Lab
on May 14, and another survey of Alabama and
Mississippi
inshore waters on June 9. These surveys were done to determine minimum
estimates of marine mammals in the area prior to oil impacts. The Alabama
Manatee Sighting Network has begun getting public sightings of manatees on a
weekly basis within Alabama's waterways. As the waters continue to
warm, we expect the routine migration of manatees into the area affected by the
oil spill, and will be conducting additional distribution aerial surveys; weekly
at first, and then daily as manatee use of the area increases.
For updates on the oil response, or to read the chronology of Sea to Shore's actions,
Click Here
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Manatee Monitoring at FPL Riviera Beach Power plant in 2009-2010 Winter
Season
Jessica Koelsch - Marine Wildlife Conservationist, Sea to Shore Alliance
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Jessica Koelsch
 | The winter of 2010 was a record season for cold-related manatee
deaths. As of May 14, 2010, a total of
514 manatees died: 237 were confirmed cold related deaths; another 214 "undetermined"
or "unrecovered" carcasses may also have been related to cold stress (FWC data). (As a comparison, the 5-year average of
cold-related deaths for this same time period was 26 animals).
Warm
water emanating from the FPL Riviera Power Photo by: Jay Gorzelany | Plant(PRV) located in Palm Beach
County (PBC) has provided a cold weather sanctuary to hundreds of manatees, but
in 2009, FPL began a major modernization project at PRV, taking the plant
off-line and ceasing the warm water discharge.
Fortunately, FPL designed, constructed, and installed a temporary
electrical heating system that pumps heated water into the manatee embayment,
providing a temporary warm water refuge for manatees during the coldest periods
of the winter. To
evaluate the impact of the system on manatee use and overall health/condition,
Sea to Shore Alliance performed cold stress evaluations and health assessments
when the heater system was in operation and upon FPL request. S2S observers
conducted manatee observations at FPL PRV for 16 days in January and February,
2010: 13 days from 3 - 15 January, and three days from 17 - 19 February. Morning minimum manatee counts ranged from 67
to 414. Cold exposure symptoms (CS) were
observed on numerous manatees using the PRV manatee embayment. Manatees
of all size classes were observed with CS but calves were affected the most; twice
as often as in adults and subadults. At
least 140 unique individuals with CS were documented: 58 adults, 14 subadults,
and 68 calves. At least 50 of these were
observed more than one day: 11 (22%) showed signs of improvement in CS; six
(12%) worsened; eight (16%) were mixed (one or more area of the body may have
improved but another one or more area of the body may have worsened); and 25
(50%) were unchanged. The findings of
this project - especially the large number of individuals using the warm water
discharge, the degree of CS, and changes in CS -- underscore the importance of
having warm water available to manatees in Palm Beach County
during the winter. Photo by: Jessica Koelsch
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Notes from the Field: Manatee Tracking
Melody Fischer - Manatee Biologist, Sea to Shore Alliance
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Buddy Powell tracking C.C.
Photo courtesy of Jimmy White
JimmyWhitePhoto.com
 | During 2009, Sea To Shore Alliance watched as Bock
and Amber learned to be wild manatees again after their February 2009 releases
at Blue Spring State Park in Orange City, Florida. Having completed the adaptation process,
Bock's equipment was removed and Amber was fitted with a new experimental GPS
tag which Sea To Shore hopes will reduce tag entanglement in vegetation. This year a new-and larger-crop of
rehabilitated animals were released at four different sites, to be monitored
during their own adaptation processes.
A total of nine manatees were released during the month of February. Kennedy from SeaWorld Florida
and Kringle from The Living Seas at Disney C.C.capture
Photo courtesy of Jimmy White
JimmyWhitePhoto.com
 | World went out in Brevard County
on February 8 th, while Boynton from Miami Seaquarium was released in
Palm Beach County the same day. Slip, from Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo, was released on
February 15 th at Blue Spring.
Myra, Little Nap, and Coral Lee, all from
Lowry Park Zoo, were released together at Three Sisters Springs in Crystal River on February 16 th, along
with Baby Coral, who had been released the previous year and taken back into
captivity to rehabilitate at Lowry Park Zoo. On February 17 th, C.C., from
SeaWorld Florida, went out at Three Sisters
Springs after having been released at Crystal River
the previous year and gone back to SeaWorld for further recuperation.
During the subsequent cold fronts most of the animals stayed
in their respective springs as expected.
Kringle, however, began moving south in Indian River instead of toward
the Cape Canaveral FPL power plant's warm water outflow near his release
site. On the west coast, C.C. left Kings Bay
and went out to the end of Salt River far from
the springs. Both of these animals were
captured and relocated back to warm water sources. Through continued and intensified
observations both showed signs of cold stress, so they were each taken into
captivity again-Kringle to Miami Seaquarium and C.C. to Lowry Park Zoo. Coral Lee was also taken back to Lowry Park
Zoo in early April after showing some stagnancy in staying around the
spring. All will be re-released and
monitored.
As it got warmer this spring, many of the animals traveled
out from their warm water sources to explore.
Boynton and Kennedy moved north in Indian River. Little Nap and Myra
investigated feeding grounds at the end of Crystal
River before returning to Kings Bay
and seem to be continuing that habit.
Baby Coral has found a plentiful feeding area in Kings Bay. Slip ventured north to Lake
Woodruff and then Lake Dexter,
while Amber went south to Lake
Monroe. Now that they have safely gotten through the
winter, Sea To Shore will continue watching for good feeding habits,
socializing, and boat avoidances.
For current updates on rehabilitated released manatees back into the wild
Click HereC.C.
Photo courtesy of Jimmy White
JimmyWhitePhoto.com
 | |
Belize Manatee Conservation
Jamal Galves - Research Associate, Belize, Sea to Shore Alliance
| Jamal Galves assessing a manatee that died of prop wounds
 | Things in Belize
have been busier than normal. Unfortunately, that is not a good thing as it
relates to dead manatees. Belize
averages around nine to eleven dead manatees annually, but as of late May, nine dead manatees have been documented. The most common cause of death is collision with watercraft.
Two rescued calves (Twiggy and Josie) are being rehabilitated and recovering thanks to the dedicated efforts of Paul, Zoe, and the Wildtracks crew who are committed to the recovery of these animals.
I have written a letter addressed to the Port
Authority of Belize in an effort to implement some no wake zones in manatee
areas on the Belize River. This is the
area where the majority of theses incidents have been taking place. Hopefully, the implementation of the signs and subsequent enforcement may alleviate the problem
of manatee deaths there.
During a recent tracking trip in Placencia, we attempted to locate two tagged manatees in that area. However, we were unable to locate either of them after
searching the entire lagoon where they are normally seen a dead manatee's prop wounds
 | couple of miles
south in the sea. We also searched the Southern Lagoon area, but found nothing.
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Spring Field Work Gives Manatee a Second Chance
Monica Ross - Behavioral Ecologist, Sea to Shore Alliance
| Jingles body condition observed on November 29, 2009
Photo by: Monica Ross
 |
A distressed manatee was observed at Salt Spring
on November 29,
2009 while doing a manatee photo identification study. She was emaciated and showed behavior typical
of animals that have ingested foreign objects. The next day, the animal
was rescued and transported to SeaWorld of Florida where she received routine
treatment and a complete GI workup but no obstructions were
noted. Several days later, a small amount of monofilament was found
in her fecal and then several more days later a small plastic mesh bag was also
found in her fecal. Additional medical procedures and radiographs
were performed which again showed no obstructions. Soon the
female manatee, newly named Jingles, began to gain weight and was considered
in good health for release in late February 2010. Jingles was released back into Salt Spring February 22, 2010
and was equipped with tracking equipment to allow Sea to Shore staff to ability
to routinely monitor her adaptation back into the wild. In Jingles travels  | recent years, three known animals released
from marine mammal facilities have passed away due to foreign object ingestion
not detected while in captivity. The extremely fibrous nature of food
eaten in the wild as compared to captive food - romaine lettuce - is a possible
reason why these foreign object blockages become exacerbated after release. By tagging Jingles we hoped to monitor her for
three months after her release to determine if she developed any complications
and to gain information on the habitat use of the Salt Spring area to assist
State and Federal management groups with future protection of this vital warm
water winter aggregation site. Jingles remained primarily within the Salt
Spring area throughout the rest of the unseasonably long winter but did make
one trip northward to another spring, Welatka Springs. This spring has not been monitored for
manatee use since the early 1990s and has believed to have minimal manatee use. But upon one visit to the site, additional
manatees were observed within the area, giving the indication that manatee use
of the area may have changed. Jingles
also made a brief trip up the Cross Florida Barge Canal located on Ocklawaha
River up towards Rodman's Dam. Jingles
was observed feeding intensely on March 31, 2010 in Salt Spring and had an
excellent body condition. Unfortunately
on April 8, 2010,
Jingles' tag broke at the weak link of the tether due to vegetation
entanglement in Mud Lake just north of Lake George. Her location currently is unknown but we hope
to have an opportunity to relocate her in the near future.
Jingles feeding a month after her release back into the wild
| ack into the wild
Photo by: Monica Ross
 |
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NESTS Program
Jessica Koelsch - Marine Wildlife Conservationist, Sea to Shore Alliance
|  Most of Florida's
sandy beaches and near shore environments provide critical habitat for sea
turtles. Unfortunately, rapid coastal development, combined with a lack of
awareness about the fragile nature of nesting sites and sea turtles, threaten
the future of Florida's
marine turtles. As the number of residents and visitors continues to grow, it
is imperative that coastal communities are instilled with a strong sense of
stewardship over these priceless creatures and their habitat. The Neighbors Ensuring Sea Turtle Survival (NESTS) program
promotes the protection of sea turtles and their nesting beaches by teaching
and encouraging community stewardship; NESTS encourages coastal residents to
engage in simple activities that benefit nesting sea turtles, the nests
themselves, and hatchlings. Coastal community residents and businesses are empowered to become
directly involved in sea turtle conservation by completing simple tasks like beach cleanups, turning off lights
(or converting to sea-turtle friendly lights), planting native vegetation on
dunes, and spreading the word about sea turtle biology protection. For each activity, program participants earn
points, or "eggs" - the more eggs they earn, the higher level of NESTS
certification they receive! In return,
NESTS participants receive plaques, t-shirts, yard signs, and porch flags as
rewards for the sea turtle stewardship. To learn more about the NESTS Program, or to get started,
please visit Sea2Shore.org/nests or TurtleNests.org
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Sarasota County Manatee Protection Plan
| Sea to Shore Alliance is currently assisting Sarasota
County with a comprehensive 5-year revision to the Sarasota County Manatee
Protection Plan (MPP). The overall purpose of this document,
authored by Jay Gorzelany, Research Scientist with Sea to Shore Alliance, will provide updated scientific information and
management guidance targeted at reducing human-related threats to manatees and
their habitat. While the primary concern of the MPP is manatee
protection, other issues addressed in this document will include the protection
of coastal wetlands and sea grasses; recreational waterway use, boating access,
boat facility siting, and other issues related to potential impacts on
marine and coastal resources. Along with providing updates on manatee use
in Sarasota County, this revision will also re-examine protection criteria and
management strategies aimed at reducing human-related threats to manatees and
natural resources within Sarasota County.
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Cuba Trip Report
| In
mid-January, Sea to Shore Alliance Executive Director Buddy Powell traveled to
Cuba to continue his long-standing work investigating manatee abundance and
distribution there. The objective of this mission was to survey areas by boat
along the coasts of Ensenada de Cortes and Golfo de Batabano for manatees on
the southern coast of Cuba and to collect general habitat and environmental
data. In particular, he wanted to visit the offshore springs of Cayo Los
Guzmanes that are reported to be important areas for manatees...
A field report from the entire expedition is posted on our website. To continue
reading Click Here
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Sea to Shore Alliance is a 501(c)3 Not for Profit Organization
FL. Regis. #CH29654
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