It's time -- here come the manatees
By Rachael Anne Ryals
Herald Staff Writer

THREE RIVERS ESTATES -- Boaters on the Santa Fe and Suwannee rivers should be on the lookout for manatees because the end of winter is the start of manatees' migration around the state, said Karen Parker with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Parker said that the while the exact number of manatees in the Santa Fe and Suwannee is unknown, her personal observations put the number around two dozen.

Most manatees congregate further south in areas like Crystal River, Parker said, but last year, there were reports of more sightings than usual on the Santa Fe River.

The drought last year also prevented the manatees from entering the Ichetucknee, where the water is warmer than the neighboring Santa Fe and Suwannee rivers, said Ichetucknee Park Services Specialist Sam Cole.

The drought caused the Santa Fe River to be lower than normal, preventing the manatees from crossing over a natural limerock ridge that separates the two rivers.

But this year, thanks to heavy rain in February and March, a female manatee, her calf and another adult manatee were able to enter the Ichetucknee, Cole said.

"I think they were all waiting at the confluence for the water to come up," Cole said.

Jim Stevenson, coordinator of the Ichetucknee Springs Basin Working Group, said that the manatees point out another reason why protecting the river and the springs is so important.

If a manatee stays too long in water with a temperature less than 68 degrees, a manatee can die, Parker said.

The constant 72-degree spring water, combined with a lack of motor boats, bring the gentle giants to relax in the Ichetucknee park when they can, Cole said.

Oftentimes, the manatees will come in the morning and leave that same day just like humans do, Cole said.

But the limerock ridge, a little past the confluence of the Santa Fe and the Ichetucknee, was only passable for a month or two, and there has been no manatee sightings in the past few weeks.

Heavy rains could again bring the water level up to a point where manatees could pass, Cole said.

Boaters in area rivers should remain on the lookout for manatees and keep their speeds down, Cole said.

"Manatees won't read signs and they will be in areas where boaters are speeding through," he said.

Approximately 25 to 30 percent of Florida manatee deaths are caused by watercraft injuries, usually the propeller of a boat slicing the manatees' back, according to the FWC.

Florida manatees are an endangered species, with just a couple of thousand estimated to be left in the wild.