Manatee FAQ: SMC Adoption Program

Q. How do you decide which manatees will be in the adoption program?
A. The wild manatees that are chosen for the Adopt-A-Manatee program are adults that have a history of returning to Blue Spring State Park, areas along Florida's east or west coasts, or in Alabama waterways. It has been documented that many manatees have preferred habitats they return to year after year, but this is not true for all manatees. The reason we choose adults rather than calves is that the manatee population has a high perinatal (infant calf) mortality rate. We also have some manatees in the adoption program that can't be released into the wild for life threatening reasons, such as those living at Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs State Wildlife Park, a rehabilitation facility near Tampa.


Q. Why do some manatees in the Adopt-A-Manatee program seem to leave Blue Spring or Tampa Electric much earlier than the others?
A. We have to keep in mind that the adoptive manatees are wild animals with individual behavior. Some manatees come late and leave early and, occasionally, certain manatees will skip a season at Blue Spring or Tampa Electric and winter at another warm water area.


Q. Am I the only one to adopt a manatee in the program?
A. Since we only have 35 manatees in the Adopt-A-Manatee program, you will be one of thousands of people who are an adoptive "parent" of the manatee you choose. However, the money from the Adopt-A-Manatee program goes toward education and public awareness efforts, research and rescue/ rehabilitation programs, and lobbying and legal activities to protect all manatees and their habitat.


For more information on the manatee adoption program, visit the Adopt-A-Manatee page.






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