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Manatee Areas Marked For Protection

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By FRANK SARGEANT

Tribune correspondent

Published: December 7, 2008

For a creature that might weigh more than a ton, manatees can be surprisingly hard to see. They often travel just below the surface, and the only thing that shows above is the tip of their nose as they raise their head to breathe, a mouse-sized patch of skin and whiskers that's very difficult to spot from a fast-moving powerboat.

That's why so many coastal areas become slow-speed zones for boaters from Nov. 15 to March 15. And particularly with the colder weather of this year - the coldest period in a decade, thus far - more manatees will be crammed into the same areas where boaters operate, including Tampa Bay.

The waters around the TECO power plant at Apollo Beach are particularly attractive to manatees, because the outfall there is bathwater warm, attracting them by the dozens. And all of those animals have to leave the area almost daily, travel out to nearby grass flats and rivers to feed, and then return by nightfall.

It's a migration that puts them right in the travel lanes of anglers and boaters on the east side of the bay.

Kipp Frolich, leader of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission's Imperiled Species Management Section, advises boaters to learn to watch for the signs that manatees are near.

"Look for repetitive lines of half-moon swirls, a mud trail, or a snout or fluke breaking the surface," Frolich said. "And remember where you see one, there will probably be several others scattered in a loose herd."

He advises wearing polarized glasses to help cut through surface glare, allowing skippers to pick out the dark shape of the animals underwater. They look like a ball of black or brown grass, at times, and might not be moving at all. They spend a good bit of time resting in water as shallow as 3 feet, and in this depth they are particularly vulnerable to damage from boat propellers as flats boats buzz across.

Tampa Bay has a designated slow-speed zone that extends from the TECO plant south to the Manatee County line near Port Manatee; all waters inside the 6-foot depth contour, except marked channels, are slow-speed areas. The markers actually make a good "highway" for boaters to follow, assuring they will stay clear of prop-damaging sandbars, as well as giving manatees a wide berth.

The waters around the TECO plant are closed to all powerboat traffic except for an idle speed channel into the waterfront homes on the north side of the peninsula. And there's no entry into the discharge area itself, which is loaded with manatees at this time. The TECO Manatee Viewing Center, accessed by land, provides a boardwalk and learning center for the public to see the manatees at close range. It's at the west end of Big Bend Road, just north of Apollo Beach. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit www.tampa electric.com/manatee.

Cold weather can be tough on manatees. They're basically tropical animals, but power plants have made it possible for considerable numbers of them to remain in waters of central and north Florida throughout the winter. Historically, most migrated to the south end of the state.

Some believe the increase in manatee populations in the past 30 years, now guessed at around 3,000 animals, is partly because of these refuges.

State biologists take advantage of winter cold to try to count the manatees. Water clears in winter, and the animals congregate in known warm-water refuges, making it possible to get a rough count with a combination of aerial and on-the-water observations. Warmer winters over the past decade have made the counts less successful, but there's a good chance that if the cold continues this year, observers will get something even better than the record 3,100-plus animals counted a few years back.

In general, biologists believe manatee numbers are increasing in most state waters, though they slumped in the southwest a few years ago due to red tide, which can have a devastating impact on manatees breathing the noxious fumes generated by the algae.

Since 2001, total manatee deaths including boat strikes and natural causes have averaged from 305 to 417, with boats typically responsible for about 25 percent of those deaths. This year, there were a total of 256 deaths through October, the most recent posted tally, and 69 of those were caused by boats.

One of those deaths was in Hillsborough County waters, one in Manatee and six in Pinellas, matching Citrus County for the most boat kills on the west coast.

Though manatees now seem to be doing well and are probably most limited by available winter habitat, boaters continue to have some impact on the population. For all who enjoy seeing this unique Florida mammal in our unique habitat, winter is time to slow down, keep a sharp watch and do your part to help protect its future.

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