News
November is Manatee Awareness Month
Help Make a Safer Place for Manatees
November is an annual celebration and a dedication to manatee conservation in Florida. As manatees seek warm water sites during the cooler winter season, residents, visitors, and the boating community are reminded to watch for manatees and help safeguard them as they freely move about Florida’s shallow, slow-moving rivers, bays, estuaries, and coastal water ecosystems.
Record watercraft mortality this year along with more than 180 manatees lost to red tide remain two of the greatest threats to the manatee population. Red tide acts as a neurotoxin in manatees, giving them seizures that can result in drowning without human intervention. Manatees may exhibit muscle twitches, lack of coordination, labored breathing, and an inability to maintain body orientation. If rescued in time, most manatees can recover, so report a sick manatee immediately to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) Hotline at 1-888-404-3922, or send a text message or email to Tip@MyFWC.com. Use VHF Channel 16 on a marine radio.
In total, 703 manatees have died so far this year from January 1st through October 12th from all causes. Cold stress during the winter months takes a toll on the manatees as they are a subtropical species and cannot tolerate prolonged exposure to water temperatures below 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Other causes of human-related mortalities includes ingestion of litter, fish hooks, and monofilament line; entanglement in crab trap lines, and being crushed and/or drowned in canal locks and flood control structures.
Many seasonal manatee zones in Florida come into effect in November, and boaters are urged to pay close attention to posted signage indicating slow or idle speeds. Waterway users should also keep their distance from migrating manatees or manatees congregated at warm-water sites during the winter to avoid possible harassment. Never separate a mother from her calf as calves depend on their mothers for up to two years. Check out the videos, tips, and resources for boaters at savethemanatee.org/boatertips.
The public can be actively engaged in manatee and habitat protection by obtaining the Club’s free waterway signage, boating banners and decals, waterway cards, and educational posters. The shoreline property signs warn boaters to slow down for manatees and feature the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission’s hotline number (1-888-404-3922) to report sick, injured, orphaned, or harassed manatees. The Club also produces family-friendly outdoor signs for state, municipal, and county parks, marinas, and other sites where human/manatee interactions are a problem. View the free public awareness resources at savethemanatee.org/freematerials. To obtain any of these materials, email education@savethemanatee.org or call 1-800-432-JOIN (5646) and request these resources.
The public is also encouraged to visit Save the Manatee Club’s Blue Spring webcams at ManaTV.org to see manatees in real time once manatee season is underway or on archived video. The webcams have become popular with viewers across the globe and have allowed the Club to monitor manatee behavior for research and health-related conditions. The site also features researcher Wayne Hartley’s daily blog on manatees visiting the spring. Hartley is the Club’s Manatee Specialist and a former park ranger at Blue Spring State Park. He has been researching the Blue Spring manatees since 1978.
Another way to help is by joining the Club’s Adopt-A-Manatee® program. Each “adoptive parent” learns about the species by following the real, living manatee they’ve chosen through adoption materials and follow-up newsletters the Club provides. To learn more, visit the adoption page of the web site at savethemanatee.org/adopt.
Save the Manatee Club is an award-winning 501(c)(3) international nonprofit organization established in 1981 by singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett and former Florida Governor and U.S. Senator Bob Graham. The Club’s mission is to protect manatees and their aquatic habitat for future generations. To accomplish its mission, the Club works closely with federal, state, and local governments, the media, and the public, and supports policies that are based on the best scientific data available. The Club raises public awareness; educates; sponsors research, rescue, rehabilitation, and release efforts; supports land acquisition and aquatic habitat protection; advocates for improved on-the-water protection measures, and also supports education and conservation efforts in other countries.
Check out Save the Manatee Club’s website at savethemanatee.org for more information and other ways to get involved.
News
Dive Worldwide Announces Bite-Back as its Charity of the Year
Over the next 12 months, specialist scuba holiday company Dive Worldwide will be supporting Bite-Back Shark & Marine Conservation with donations collected from client bookings to any one of its stunning dive destinations around the world. The independently-owned operator expects to raise £3000 for the UK charity.
Manager at Dive Worldwide, Phil North, said: “We’re especially excited to work with Bite-Back and support its intelligent, creative and results-driven campaigns to end the UK trade in shark products and prompt a change in attitudes to the ocean’s most maligned inhabitant.”
Bite-Back is running campaigns to hold the media to account on the way it reports shark news along with a brand new nationwide education programme. Last year the charity was credited for spearheading a UK ban on the import and export of shark fins.
Campaign director at Bite-Back, Graham Buckingham, said: “We’re enormously grateful to Dive Worldwide for choosing to support Bite-Back. The company’s commitment to conservation helps set it apart from other tour operators and we’re certain its clients admire and respect that policy. For us, the affiliation is huge and helps us look to the future with confidence we can deliver against key conservation programmes.”
To launch the fundraising initiative, Phil North presented Graham Buckingham with a cheque for £1,000.
Visit Dive Worldwide to discover its diverse range of international scuba adventures and visit Bite-Back to learn more about the charity’s campaigns.
MORE INFORMATION
Call Graham Buckingham on 07810 454 266 or email graham@bite-back.com
Gear News
Scubapro Free Octopus Promotion 2024
Free Octopus with every purchase of a SCUBAPRO regulator system
Just in time for the spring season, divers can save money with the FREE OCTOPUS SPRING PROMOTION! Until July 31st SCUBAPRO offers an Octopus for free
with every purchase of a regulator system!
Get a free S270 OCTOPUS with purchase of these combinations:
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with A700
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with S620Ti
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with D420
MK25 EVO Din mit S620Ti-X
Get a free R105 OCTOPUS with purchase of the following combinations:
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with G260
MK25 EVO or MK17 EVO with S600
SCUBAPRO offers a 30-year first owner warranty on all regulators, with a revision period of two years or 100 dives. All SCUBAPRO regulators are of course certified according to the new European test standard EN250-2014.
Available at participating SCUBAPRO dealers. Promotion may not be available in all regions. Find an authorized SCUBAPRO Dealer at scubapro.com.
More information available on www.scubapro.com.
-
News3 months ago
Hone your underwater photography skills with Alphamarine Photography at Red Sea Diving Safari in March
-
News3 months ago
Capturing Critters in Lembeh Underwater Photography Workshop 2024: Event Roundup
-
Marine Life & Conservation Blogs3 months ago
Creature Feature: Swell Sharks
-
Blogs2 months ago
Murex Resorts: Passport to Paradise!
-
Blogs2 months ago
Diver Discovering Whale Skeletons Beneath Ice Judged World’s Best Underwater Photograph
-
Gear Reviews2 weeks ago
GEAR REVIEW – Revolutionising Diving Comfort: The Sharkskin T2 Chillproof Suit
-
Marine Life & Conservation2 months ago
Save the Manatee Club launches brand new webcams at Silver Springs State Park, Florida
-
Gear Reviews3 months ago
Gear Review: Oceanic+ Dive Housing for iPhone