Protecting the Manatees in Florida
For Florida residents’ winter is the special time of year known as “snowbird season.” The season is great for the economy, however for our manatees’ things can get a little dicey.
There are over one million registered vessels and an estimated million unregistered vessels in Florida. Over 800,000 of those registered vessels are in the coastal counties. On the Atlantic side you will find 272,000 of them and over on the Gulf are 344,000 of them. During season it seems that all those vessels go out on the waterways at the same time.
Florida is still one of the many states that doesn’t require all boat operators to take a NASBLA approved boating course. So not only do way too many boaters not know the federal rules and regulations, they haven’t a clue about state and local rules and regulations.
Recently while sitting at a meeting this became obvious. The person sitting next to me was telling us a story about their neighbor. It seems the neighbor was trying to attract some manatees to their dock with a water hose. So, I asked, “did you tell them it was illegal to do that?”
Unfortunately, I was not surprised when they replied, “I didn’t know that.” So, then I asked, have you taken take a NASBLA approved boating class like America’s Boating Course? The answer was “no, I have a captains license.”
So, I explained to them that Florida has several unique boating laws, and they might want to get familiar with them. Especially the laws protecting manatees as our area has a large population of them.
Manatees are currently a threatened species and are protected by federal and state laws. Under Florida law the activity he found amusing is considered harassment.
If you’re planning on boating in Florida, there are some things you need to know about the laws designed to protect manatees. Although manatees are by nature a migratory species, manatees like warm water, so when they find warm waters, they tend to stay there and not migrate.
There are areas with naturally warm springs have always been favorite spots for manatees to winter at. When Florida built coal fired powerplants along the coast the cooling ponds became wintering spots for manatees.
As the powerplants converted from coal to gas, the water being discharged was too cool for the manatees. Environmentalist were concerned that the manatees wouldn’t resume migrating south and forced the power companies to install industrial heaters to warm the discharge water.
Because manatees are on the threatened species list the federal government has mandated protection areas around the power plants to have designated speed zones. Some of these speed zones are in force year-round, others are seasonal. If you are planning on boating in an area with manatees, it’s a good idea to know where those speed zones are found.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has PDF maps for each county that you can download. These maps show you the location of those zones, https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/wildlife/manatee/data-and-maps.
If you have never boated where there are manatees FWC has some helpful information you can download and read at your leisure before you come and visit, https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/wildlife/manatee.
Speed zones are not the only protections for manatees. Florida takes manatee harassment seriously and any act that disrupts a manatee’s normal behavior is consider harassment. Violators of these protections are punishable by a fine of up to $50,000, one year imprisonment, or both.
If you don’t want to be found guilty of harassment,
DO NOT:
Give food to manatees,
• use water to attract manatees to your boat, dock, or marina (etc.) where manatees may be harmed,
• separate a cow and her calf,
• disturb manatee mating herds,
• pursue manatees or chase them from warm water sites,
• disturb resting manatees,
• hit, injure, or harm manatees,
• jump on, stand on, hold on to, or ride manatees,
• grab or kick manatees,
• block a manatee's path if one or more moves toward you,
• hunt or kill manatees,
use your vessel to pursue or harass manatees,
• "fish" for or attempt to hook or catch manatees.
If you witness any of these actions you are encouraged to report the offender to Wildlife Alert and possibly get a reward. Wildlife Alert is a nonprofit program created to encourage citizens to report fish, wildlife and boating violations.
To report these activities you can either call the Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC (888-404-3922) or submit a tip at MyFWC.com/WildlifeAlert.
Rewards up to $1,000 are offered depending on the violation. Pictures and videos are helpful in the capture and prosecution of the offenders.
While you are boating you, or you see someone, accidentally hit a manatee the best thing to do is stop and make sure the manatee is not injured. It is also recommended that you call FWC and report the incident. They might ask you to stay on scene until they can get someone out to investigate.
If you have never taken a safe boating course, consider this statement from FWC, “…the boat operator most likely to be involved in a boating accident is a middle-age or older male who has boating experience yet has never learned the most important safety considerations by having taken a boating safety course.”
If you haven’t taken America’s Boating Course, please consider doing so as you might be surprised by what else you can learn.
Stay Safe!
Thomas E. Dawson
Cape Coral, Florida
Tomas E. Dawson has been teaching safe boating at the Cape Coral Sail and Power Squadron in SW Florida since 2018. Dawson developed and is teaching a local waters seminar that discusses boating in Lee County. The seminar is offered during snow-bird season starting again on October14th. You reserve your seat by signing up for the seminar on line at ccsaps.org. Clicking on the Events/Seminars button to find all upcoming dates and signup. A book based on the seminar, “Barret Bonden’s Local Knowledge Recommended” is available on Amazon along with i WSn Thomas E. Dawson has been teaching safe boating at the Cape Coral Sail and Power Squadron isince 2018. Dawson developed and is teaching a local waters seminar that discusses boating in Lee County. The seminar is offered during snow-bird season starting again on October14th. You reserve your seat by signing up for the seminar on line at ccsaps.org. Clicking on the Events/Seminars button to find all upcoming dates and signup. A book based on the seminar, “Barret Bonden’s Local Knowledge Recommended” is available on Amazon along with i WSn Thomas E. Dawson has been teaching safe boating at the Cape Coral Sail and Power Squadron isince 2018. Dawson developed and is teaching a local waters seminar that discusses boating in Lee County. The seminar is offered during snow-bird season starting again on October14th. You reserve your seat by signing up for the seminar on line at ccsaps.org. Clicking on the Events/Seminars button to find all upcoming dates and signup. A book based on the seminar, “Barret Bonden’s Local Knowledge Recommended” is available on Amazon along with “Safe Boating in Southwest Florida, Cape Coral Edition.”
