Meet A Manatee: Floyd
Still going strong after all these years
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| His youthful appearance belies Floyd's true age. (Photo © Patrick M. Rose, SMC) |
Take a look at Floyd and try to guess how old he is. What would you say: 5, 10, or 20 years of age? Try 29 years old. True, he looks youthful, but Floyd is actually approaching manatee middle age.
We know this because Floyd was born in the summer of 1978. He was just a few months old when his mother, Phoebe, brought him to the warm waters at Blue Spring State Park for the winter. Floyd has returned to Blue Spring each winter ever since that time.
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If you look closely, you can see the crescent-shaped indentation near Floyd's tail, which is one of the scars that identifies him. (Photo © Walker Stanberry)
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A manatee’s age can be determined for sure by the annual growth rings in its ear bones. Of course, this procedure can’t be performed on a live manatee, so researchers approximate a manatee’s age by its size. Weight and length are used to judge whether a manatee is a calf, juvenile, or an adult.
Floyd is a pretty reliable guy. He usually arrives at Blue Spring with the beginning of cool weather and heads out for the summer sometime in February. He is easily identified by the large, crescent-shaped indentation on his side and because of the fact that he only has half a tail. Both injuries were caused by boat hits. Because manatees are slow-moving, need to surface to breathe air, and prefer shallow water, they are vulnerable to watercraft collisions.
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| Floyd lost half his tail from a boat hit. (Photo © Walker Stanberry) |
Floyd has the reputation for being playful and active. Ranger Wayne Hartley, who tracks the Blue Spring manatees, observes that nearly all the manatees sleep with their heads upstream into the current, but Floyd tends to sleep slightly away from the other manatees, usually with his head downstream and his tail into the current. But that doesn’t mean he’s anti-social. Floyd is often seen chasing after and hanging out in the company of the female manatees such as Dana, Phyllis, and Lily. Lucille and Georgia are also constant companions. Male buddies include Howie, Brutus, and Doc, and Floyd has also been known to travel with another male named Deep Dent.
Ranger Wayne also notes that Floyd is easygoing. "Floyd is who I am thinking of when I say some manatees can be captured seven times a day and not care," he says. "Many years ago, Floyd was captured and fitted with a tag for tracking purposes. But he lost his tag in the spring run that night. The next day, the researchers captured him again and mistakenly put the tag prepared for Wonder Woman, another manatee, on Floyd!"
Floyd’s younger brother Philip is also in the SMC adoption program. He was born in the summer of 1982 and, like Floyd, he is known for being playful, active, and curious. Philip has been reported checking out the camera equipment of nature photographers.
We don’t know what cues manatees follow, but they seem to know when cold weather is coming and seek warm water areas. This season a cold snap brought Floyd to Blue Spring around the 20th of November. It’s been a warm winter so far, but all in all, Floyd has made five appearances at Blue Spring.
Scientists believe that manatees can live to 60 years or more. However, research has shown that many manatees do not live to be more than 10 years old because of the threats they encounter in the wild. Floyd has been lucky so far. But we need to reduce these threats in order to make sure that manatees like Floyd reach their full life expectancy.
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| Floyd (left) and his brother Philip (right). Notice the family resemblance? (Photos © Walker Stanberry) |
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