Volusia County Manatee Protection Program Manager On “Manatee Awareness Month’

DeLand, FL – November is ‘Manatee Awareness Month’ and Volusia County Manatee Protection Program Manager Debbie Wright said it’s a really good time of year to make people aware of the manatees. Since the water is getting colder now, manatees usually move to warmer waters. Sometimes they don’t move. “If they don’t get to those warmer water sources in time they might develop cold stress.  If you’re out on the waterways and it is colder, you’ll be on the lookout for manatees that have white lesions on their face, and potentially on their pectoral flippers and their flukes.” Wright said the cold water makes the manatees lethargic. Since manatees are not known to be fast movers, it could be hard to tell if they’re having issues. Wright says, “When in doubt, call FWC, especially if that water is cold.” Volusia County has a couple of different ways that residents can help the manatees. Wright said one way is the Manatee Watch program.  “We will have some training coming up here shortly. We train volunteers to document manatee scar patterns. Once we identify the animals, we also train the volunteers to document exactly where they were seen, what they were doing, and a bunch of other data on the animals when they spot them.” Find the link to volunteer at volusia.org. A big problem this past year was the Unusual Mortality Event declared by FWC. Wright said FWC is working to find ways to change the situation but it’s going to take some time. She said what we can do as citizens is keep the waterways as clean as possible.  “Make sure to follow your fertilizer ordinances and be really cautious that you’re not putting anything in the water that’s not supposed to be there. So, while FWC works to figure something out to help the animals right away, that’s what we can be doing.” Find out more about the manatee at myFWC.org.