- May 8, 2024
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Ashley Howard was helping to lead a Ponce Inlet Watersports Eco Tour one day near a boat ramp in New Smyrna Beach when she and the passengers saw something disturbing: a young, deceased manatee.
“He was only 4 feet long,” she recalled. “He was a little guy.”
She reported the death and stranding to the Manatee Watch program, and a team arrived to assess the situation. She learned that the manatee had likely been separated from its mother and strayed to cold water.
“They don't know which direction they should go to get away from the cold water,” she said. “Then they get cold stress, and they'll get frostbite, kind of like we do if we were to go into the snow without shoes on. The tips of their flippers and their nose will get looking [frostbitten], and it'll just stress them out, and their bodies can't handle it. If it's under 68 degrees, they don't last very long. … There was no indication of any boat strike or entanglement.”
Howard has admired manatees for years, as she is a Florida native and spends a lot of her time on the water helping to guide eco tours. For the past four years, she has been paying close attention to the wellbeing of local manatees.
As she watched the volunteers do their work that day, about one year ago, the team encouraged her to become a volunteer, as well, and she agreed.
“We're on the side of things where it is sad, but it's also an opportunity to research and see what happened and how we can prevent it in the future,” she said.
Volusia County created the Manatee Watch program for individuals 16 years or older to observe and report the conditions of manatees in local waterways.
Manatee Watch volunteers document sightings and sketch any specific markings or scars a manatee may possess. This process assists in tracking the local manatee population.
Volusia County’s manatee protection program manager, Debbie Wright, shared the program’s goal: “With the help of volunteers, we can help get a better understanding of how manatees are using Volusia County waterways.”
She added: “The Manatee Watch training is a great opportunity to learn all about Florida’s official marine mammal.”
Howard and other observers have discovered manatees who have been hit by boats. Help from the team arrived shortly thereafter.
“We see the animals on our boats frequently,” Howard said. “We're out every day on the water from 8 o'clock in the morning until 7 o'clock in the evening sometimes.”
Now more than ever, manatees are facing hazardous living conditions, as food is becoming more scarce in the waters they inhabit. Manatees can weigh up to 1,800 pounds and must consume 10% of their body weight daily.
“The problem is the pollution in the water right now,” Howard said. “It's killing off a lot of the seagrass manatees naturally eat. They are purely vegetation eaters, so they're always looking for some sort of greenery to snack on.”
According to The News Service of Florida, 1,003 manatees have died in Florida waters in 2021, more than 10% of the estimated population of manatees in the state waters. Nearly two-thirds of the deaths have occurred along the East Coast. Last year, the state recorded 637 manatees deaths.
Manatee Watch coordinators will host two upcoming, free training sessions for those interested in becoming a volunteer. Advance registration is required; contact Chad Murch at [email protected] or call 386-736-5927, ext. 12839. For more information about manatees and Manatee Watch, visit www.volusiamanatees.org.
The sessions will be held 10 a.m. to noon Monday, Feb. 7, at the Stetson Aquatic Center, 2636 Alhambra Ave., DeLand, and 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Feb. 12, at the Marine Discovery Center, 520 Barracuda Blvd., New Smyrna Beach.
