SAVING
THE
MANATEES
by Andrew Mersmann
I’m on private property, standing
on the grassy bank at the edge of Three Sisters Springs
in Crystal River, Florida, and feeling guilty that the
small dirt clods I accidentally dislodge and send into
the water might sully the stunning purity of the spot.
I’ve never seen a body of water in nature so clear
and pristine, and another day I will have the chance to
snorkel in these springs, for a few moments alone with
the schools of hundreds of fish before scads of other
snorkelers find their way in and stir up the water, cutting
down visibility. During the coldest months of winter,
this small inlet, and the fresh, warm water that flows
from the springs at the bottom, is a favorite congregation
spot for West Indian manatees. The thirty natural springs
in inland waterways of this section of Florida’s
Gulf Coast pump out six hundred million gallons of fresh
water daily, all of it a dreamy 72 degrees Fahrenheit.
It is this warm water that is sought by the gentle giants;
warm water and some peace. The latter objective is harder
to come by, and explains why at daybreak each day, a herd
of manatees leaves the Three Sisters Springs to which
they are so ideally suited and actually need for survival…they
know the boats are coming.
The Crystal River Wildlife Refuge is
46 acres of islands and the spring-fed waters of King’s
Bay. In cold weather, when air and water temperatures
drop, the manatees come inland from the Gulf of Mexico
to find warmth. Considering their size (adults are usually
close to ten feet long, females tend to be larger than
males) and weight, between 800–1,200 lbs, many
people assume manatees have insulating blubber like
whales, but there is remarkably little fat on a manatee.
It is precisely this lack of insulating fat that makes
them need warm water to survive. If the water temperature
drops below 68 degrees, they are in danger of potentially
fatal cold-stress.
All that is well and good and natural,
and the manatees lumber through the waterways toward
warmth…until you add humans to the equation. Crystal
River is a popular boating destination, and the manatees
themselves have become quite the tourist draw. With
no natural enemies and humans trying to tame and attract
them, the gentle giants are brought perilously close
to the only real danger they face—people and boats.
It is a sad state of affairs that comes painfully into
focus when you see manatees: it is the rare adult that
does NOT have scars and injuries from boat propellers
and hulls. The impact scars are often the most distinguishing
marks on their elephant-like bodies as they glide slowly
through the green water. In addition to collisions with
boats, ingesting litter and fishing line, getting trapped
in nets and crab trap lines, and loss of habitat to
development all contribute to the manatee being an endangered
species.
During the winter season there can be
hundreds of manatees around the two main spring areas,
Three Sisters and King Spring, as well as thousands
of tourists eager to have a manatee encounter. The area
even had a tourist-attracting motto, “Where Man
and Manatee Play.” There are few areas in the world
where you can interact with large, wild mammals: you
don’t get out of your safari jeep to scratch a
lion’s belly, and you are required to stay a certain
number of yards away from whales and dolphins in the
wild, but in this small section of Florida’s “Nature
Coast,” there are still ways to get in the water
with the benevolent manatees—and that’s part
of the problem.
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There is controversy in these placid waters.
Manatee advocates who place the vigor of the species above
their entertainment value to humans insist that most interaction
currently allowed (and a lot of interaction NOT allowed
by law) is detrimental to the manatees. Recreational boaters
who bristle at off-limits sanctuary zones and waterway
speed limits aimed at defending the species, feel that
“over-protective laws” impinge on their rights
to waterway use.
Some snorkel tour operators and guides
compromise the very species that is their bread and
butter for their “Swim With the Manatees”
tours. They are required by law to show a short educational
video, Manatee Manners, explaining appropriate and legally
sanctioned rules of engagement. I can speak from experience
that not all tour operators show this video. “It’s
a good day if you see a manatee,” one captain told
a group I was part of, “but it’s not a great
day unless you touch one.” This petting zoo mentality
is the undoing of the natural experience.
Tour boat captains and operators cover
a broad spectrum. Some want to educate the public and
share a genuine love for the manatees, while others
are merely eager to make a buck by dropping hordes of
snorkelers in the water around the slow moving creatures
and maximizing mass paparazzi-like photo opps. Many
operators lie somewhere in between. Truly caught in
the middle, along with the manatees themselves, are
visitors wanting an authentic, non-zoo experience with
a fascinating animal while caring very deeply for that
animal’s happiness and well-being.
Protected by state and federal law,
overseen by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and
protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act, there
are an estimated 3,000 manatees remaining in the U.S.
region. The manatee is referred to by biologists as
“Charismatic Megafauna,” meaning an animal
that grabs the heartstrings of the public, making them
care more about conservation. The public, however, can’t
always know that the tour operator they’ve chosen,
from an array of websites and colorful brochures, each
championing the manatee cause, may not truly prioritize
the well-being of the animals. This is where it gets
sticky. Manatee harassment has become epidemic in the
waters. People chase, ride, stand on, poke, and grab
them, sometimes separating babies from their mothers,
nearly always interrupting feeding and sleeping behaviors,
and much of it is caught on video.
Continued
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