Save the Manatee Club
Free Boating Banners Help With
Manatee Safety
http://www.savethemanatee.org/news_pr_labor_day_11.html
For
further information or to arrange an interview with one of the Club’s
biologists, contact:
Janice
Nearing
Director
of Public Relations
Phone: (407) 539-0990
E-mail: jnearing@savethemanatee.org
Note: A
high resolution jpeg (300 dpi) of the Club’s yellow boating banner is available
upon request.
For Immediate Release:
Save the Manatee Club sends out a reminder to boaters to
exercise safe practices and to remain watchful for endangered manatees and
other wildlife.
Manatees are slow-moving, and because they are mammals,
they need to surface to breathe air. They also prefer shallow waters where they
feed on submerged seagrasses. These factors combine
to make manatees vulnerable to boat hits, and many are injured or killed by the
crushing impact of the hull and slashing blades of the propellers.
Boaters can be active participants in manatee protection
by holding aloft Save the Manatee Club’s public awareness banner whenever a
manatee is sighted in areas where boats are motoring close by. The bright
yellow, 1 ½ by 2 foot, waterproof banner states, “Please Slow: Manatees
Below.” They are provided free to the boating public in
Barbara Birdsey of the Pegasus
Foundation came up with the banner idea years ago while boating in the Jupiter
Inlet/Hobe Sound area and waving a homemade cardboard sign to slow down boaters
traveling close to manatees she had spotted in the area. As a result, the more
effective, attention-getting yellow banners were produced. “The banners continue
to be distributed across the state, thanks to the generosity of the Pegasus
Foundation, and to the continued support of Mrs. Birdsey,”
said Patrick Rose, aquatic biologist and Executive Director of Save the Manatee
Club.
“As more and more boaters use the banners to communicate
with each other on the waterways when manatees are sighted, I believe we can
better work together to help prevent manatee injuries, suffering, and death,”
said Birdsey.
Even under the best conditions, manatees are often difficult
to spot in the water. The Club suggests wearing polarized sunglasses to
eliminate the glare of the sun and help boaters to see below the water’s
surface. Learn to recognize a manatee’s presence. Look for a swirl on the
water’s surface and a manatee’s tail or nose.
Shoreline property signs and matching boat decals are also
available from Save the Manatee Club. They encourage boaters to slow down and
feature the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) hotline
number, 1-888-404-3922, for reporting injured manatees. Requests for the free
banners, signs, and decals can be sent via e-mail to
education@savethemanatee.org or by calling toll free at 1-800-432-JOIN (5646).
Boaters are asked to observe all manatee speed zones and
caution areas. Dr. Katie Tripp, the Club’s Director of Science and
Conservation, urges the public to report manatee zone violations to the FWC by
calling their hotline number. “Calling in each and every violation that is
observed is critical,” explained Tripp. “We can’t assume that our neighbor will
make the call or that a law enforcement officer will see this violation. Even
if it’s not possible to make out the boat’s registration number, a description
of the vessel, the locality where it was observed, the approximate time it was
observed, and the direction in which it was traveling, can be useful
information. There may not be an officer on the water to stop that vessel on
that day, but officers do make note of violations that are reported and
consider these when deciding where to patrol. Reporting these violations is an
important way that the public can protect manatees from debilitating or fatal
collisions with watercraft.”
Those who see an injured, dead, tagged or orphaned
manatee, or a manatee who is being harassed, are asked to call the FWC hotline
number at 1-888-404-FWCC (3922) or #FWC or *FWC on cellular phones, or use VHF
Channel 16 on marine radios.