A Wife, a Mom, & More! : We see you, Manatees!

Manatees are struggling to survive...let's help them! Please watch this video detailing the importance of keeping Three Sisters Springs a safe winter sanctuary for Manatees.

Some Dangers Manatees Face:

Boat strikes
Entanglement
Red Tide
Cold stress

Here's a message from The Save the Manatee Club:

Please send a message to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service letting them know that you still support Alternative B- Manatee Viewing from Land Only within this small but critically important winter refuge. Please submit comments via email to crystalriver@fws.gov before December 18th, 2015.

We encourage you to include your own comments and let the FWS know why this issue is important to you. Whether you are a local resident, Florida resident, or a national or international visitor, it's important that you connect yourself directly to this community. If you have previously visited this community and spent money, or plan to do so in the future, and you support stronger manatee protections, please emphasize that in your comments. Otherwise, the agency and opponents of the proposal will try to dismiss your input.

Here are some points you may wish to include in your message:

Thank the Service for recognizing that Alternative C would not have resulted in the necessary level of protection for manatees or allowed the agency to meet its legal obligations.
Express your continued support for Alternative B- Manatee Viewing from Land Only within Three Sisters Springs, since it is the most effective and easily manageable solution to protect manatees and create the needed level of certainty for the tourism industry. The boardwalk around the springs would allow visitors to observe manatees exhibiting natural behavior, undisturbed by human presence in the water.
Express your concern over this most recent delay, which leaves manatees subject to continued harassment. Remind the FWS that its rules from last year, which are still in effect, allow for emergency closures.
Ask the agency to exercise its legal authority for emergency closures of Three Sisters to protect manatees from the well-documented illegal take and harassment that occur here since manatees will be left unprotected in the meantime.
Manatee use of Three Sisters is highest when human use is lowest (Figure 5 in the November Draft).
Disturbance is only truly minimized when no one is in the water.
The Refuge Improvement Act states that the Refuge's mission is "focused singularly on wildlife conservation."
Only Alternative B ensures equal access for all while also protecting manatees.
Key holes should not be allowed to facilitate snorkeler access into any closed areas.
The Service needs to get to work with stakeholders to develop improved standards of conduct for all of Kings Bay including a Bay-wide "no touch" policy.

If you wish to donate to the Save the Manatee Club cause, please visit their website.

November has been designated Manatee Awareness Month, & I can't let November pass without acknowledging these adorable creatures. I have such great love for them, such gentle giants.