Slow your boat, manatees ahead. How speed zones are protecting Florida’s sea cows

FESCH.TV INFORMIERT:

The state of Florida in the United States is well-known for two things – boating and manatees. Yet both of the region’s most famous traits are in direct conflict with each other. The slow-moving manatees are easy targets for watercraft collisions, which threatens their survival. Save the Manatee Club (SMC) is a non-profit that was founded in 1981 to conserve the species, and today they’re the world’s leading organisation in the fight for the public protection of sea cows.

Florida provides the perfect home for manatees as the estuaries supply them with aquatic vegetation, their primary source of food. The animals are essential to the fertilisation of shallow seagrass meadows, and by consuming invasive plant species such as water hyacinth they prevent it from proliferating. Manatees are migratory mammals and move to warmer regions in winter to survive. Prolonged exposure to climates colder than 20°C makes them susceptible to becoming cold-stressed. In the summer months, they travel freely between the ocean and temperate freshwater lakes where humans often frequent. With over 2 000 kilometres of coastline and more than 3 000 inland waterways, Florida is often referred to as the boating capital of the world. Almost half a million boats are registered in these channels, which can be extremely overcrowded. This influx makes it more likely for watercrafts to collide with manatees, leading to many fatalities.

Propellers can cause massive lacerations and puncture wounds affecting internal organs. Rescue and rehabilitation has been an intrinsic component of SMC for decades. In an alliance with the Manatee Rescue & Rehabilitation Partnership, they have nursed animals back to health and released them into their natural habitat. Many of them are now being identified by the scars on their body. Most of SMC’s work focuses on raising awareness on the plight of manatees. Their most notable success is advocating for increased legal protection. Under the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and Protection Act, they motivated for the governmental implementation of regional boat speed zones.

In 1991, manatee numbers were less than 1 500 in Florida. But in 2019, their population reached 5 733. By actively boosting the conservation of the species and encouraging people to change their behaviours, the SMC has recovered manatees in the Sunshine State. The continuation of these efforts will allow their numbers to flourish even further.

You can contribute to the work of Save the Manatee Club here.

Footage by Save the Manatee Club was used in the creation of this film.