West Indian Manatee
ESA Assignment by Gabe Worthington
The West Indian Manatee is an aquatic mammal that is Florida’s state animal. Very large gentle creatures that are adored by many, however due to anthropogenic sources their populations have been drastically reduced.
Facts regarding the Manatee
The manatee is a K-selected herbivorous creature that spends most of any given day grazing on grasses. This creature can interestingly survive not only in freshwater, but seawater as well. It is most commonly found in Florida but have been found spread out through the Gulf of Mexico as well. They grow to be around 10 feet long, and have the grey leathery skin of its distant relative; the elephants. However they have been recorded growing more than 12 feet and over 3,000 pounds!
Manatee Photobomb!! http://johnnyjet.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Manatee-Photo-Bomb.jpg
Taxonomy
Florida Manatee is a subspecies of the West Indian Manatee, its scientific name is Trichechus manatus latirostris.
Reproduction
As previously mentioned the Manatee is a K-selected species so it has high levels of motherhood and less babies than R-selected species. They usually carry a baby in the gestation period for a little over a year and birth a single calf. The child then stays with the mother for the 2 following years after birth.
Baby Manatee https://ttellah2.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/babymanatee.jpg
Niche
Manatees are crucial players in the ecosystems in the riverbeds and shallow seas that it inhabits. Since the manatee spends most of its time grazing, it wipes out massive swaths of seaweed keeping its population in check. As we discussed in class, an overabundance of plant life in the sea can take up dissolved 02 and damage the other sea creatures living there. This makes them primary consumers, although they are rarely preyed on by other species due to their large size.
Distribution
The manatee is a migratory animals, that travels to avoid cold waters (below 68 degrees Fahrenheit) so they make their way to a variety of warm water refuges found in corners of Florida. When the water warms they migrate elsewhere to explore up rivers while the temperature is good. Although its population isn’t quite where it used to be, the manatee’s range has not shifted too much from Florida and its warm-refuges. Although due to warming temperature during the migration period Manatees have been found as far North as Rhode Island and as South as the Bahamas.
https://natgeoeducationblog.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/manatee-map.jpg
Population and Listing
The West Indian manatee has approximately 6,000 current survivors. The manatee was placed on the Endangered Species List on March 11th 1967 but recent in September of 2015 they were reclassified as Threatened.
Recovery Plan
https://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/011030.pdf
This successful recovery plan aimed at getting the manatees getting reclassified. The main threats this plan tried to address were the amount of manatees killed by boats, power plant pollution, and the limited amount of warm water refugees they would have if the water levels do not reach the natural springs.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=boat+strike+and+manatee+video&view=detail&mid=0DA641343761C0EFF07A0DA641343761C0EFF07A&FORM=VIRE
http://www.sciencepart.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/shutterstock_95174221.jpg
How did they plan to help manatee populations?
They set out a few criteria in order to ensure that the warm water areas that are so crucial to the manatees survival are protected areas. During those cold times the population density of the animals would drastically increase so the likelihood of a collison if boats are sailing there. Also protecting these areas would allow restriction to the power plant pollutants in that area so they are less susceptible to that as well.
http://hernandoconnects.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Scarred-manatee-Alice-at-Blue-Spring-by-SMC.jpg
The Actions they Took
Objective 1: Minimize causes of manatee disturbance.
Such as boats interfering with the manatees when they come up for air and causing painful back wounds. As well as how human plastic debris can be mistaken for food to the manatee, or how fishing nets have entangled and drown them.
Objective 2: Determine and Monitor Manatee Population.
Essentially they want to ensure that the data they get is correct regarding manatee mortality. If the population numbers are skewed it could lead to inaccurate results. How will they know if their practices are working if they can’t trust the numbers.
Objective 3: Protect, identify, and monitor manatee habitats.
They went into the habitats and located the spots essential to manatees survival, like grass fields, the warm water, and places to breed. By doing this they could identify the areas they needed to protect. When protected the habitat can be managed to ensure it is it up to the right standards.
Objective 4: Facilitate manatee recovery through public awareness.
http://i.pinimg.com/736x/02/d5/85/02d585fa961c6a0f03f356a43b53b32b.jpg
Getting more people involved would broaden the scope of resources that manatee conservationists have to work with. When the issue is talked about more, it gets more attention and gains a following. With properly funded research the facts needed to save the manatees could be found.
http://www.pinellascounty.org/environment/images/manatee.jpg
What can you do?
You could support the practice of strict boating regulations in manatee areas, could practice safe boating yourself. You could reduce the amount of plastics you throw away as plastic pollution affects the manatee. You could buy locally grown organic products to not support the fertilizers gushing into the seas where the manatees roamed.
You could purchase this manatee kit thats proceeds go to support the manatees.
Other Resources
Other Resources
myfwc.com/education/wildlife/manatee/facts-and-information/
https://www.savethemanatee.org/manatees/facts/https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp0/pub/speciesRecovery.jsp?sort=1
It is interesting how the manatees explore the rivers surrounding Florida.- James Yates
ReplyDeleteThis blog was interesting to read — I had no idea that the manatee was an endangered species, and I never knew that there were multiple different kinds of manatee. This animal should be a huge priority in terms of recovery efforts because of its important role in riverbed ecosystems. As stated in this blog, the loss of the West Indian manatee could disrupt this ecosystem by causing an imbalance between plant and animal life. The West Indian Manatee sounds like a keystone species that should definitely be protected from further population decline.
ReplyDelete-Kellie Williams
My heart honestly goes out to these guys; I didn't know that the babies stay with their moms for almost two years, which makes me wonder what happens to them if their mother is accidentally killed in a boating accident or by pollution. Your blog also mentions that they try to avoid any water colder than 68 degrees so I wonder how the populations in Florida did this past winter! -Hope Young
ReplyDeleteI think this was a super cool blog. I didn't know that manatees we're related elephants nor that they could live in fresh and salt water. I like the way you framed the recovery plan as well. - Chuck Wheaton
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this blog, it was very eye opening. I never knew manatees were endangered or that they are a crucial part of their ecosystems. -Morgan White
ReplyDeleteThis really caught my by surprise, and the pictures definitely helped you get your point across clearly. I also liked the graphic in Florida showing the manatee populations! -Max Tannenwald
ReplyDeleteIt was tough seeing the many scars the West Indian Manatee had in your pictures. It definitely shocked me but I thought it was a good things to bring up. Your blog did a good job explaining the issues the animal faced and I enjoyed reading about it. -Nick Vollucci
ReplyDeleteGabe great job! I had no clue that manatees are distant relatives of elephants! Great choice of graphics. The pictures of the injured manatees really hit home. It is sad to see such a gentle creature being effected by human activites such as boating. -Rick Taggesell
ReplyDeleteI though that your main point concerning what we could do at the individual level for manatees was simply talking about it was very important. If we communicated all of the information from this class just to our friends and family that alone could make a remarkable difference for every organism in desperation -Jason Wahlund
ReplyDeleteI can definitely see the similarities between elephants and manatees. Its got to be hard to avoid manatees with boats. Manatees and humans are more similar than I thought, I avoid cold water too! -aUSTIN_wHALEY
ReplyDeleteI had prior knowledge of manatees but I had no idea just how crucial they were to riverbed ecosystems. I hope their recovery plan can help save this gentle species. -Emily White
ReplyDelete