Meet A Member: Joey LaMountain
A Kid Who Is Making A Difference
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| Joey LaMountain with the manatee Tang-Lee on the day of her release. If you look closely, you can see the scar on Tang-Lee's right flipper where she was entangled in a crab trap line and buoy. (Photo courtesy Joey LaMountain.) |
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By Nancy Sadusky
Director of Online Communications, Save the Manatee Club
Before he moved to Florida, Joey LaMountain didn’t know much about manatees. But earlier this year, the 12-year-old was in a kayak on the Orange River reporting an injured manatee to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).
Originally from Massachusetts, Joey, his parents, and three brothers moved to Florida in 2009. “I didn’t know any facts about manatees,” said Joey. “I probably didn’t even know they are mammals.” But when Joey’s mom, Donna, took a job in the gift shop at the Lee County Manatee Park, Joey tagged along and became an “unofficial” volunteer — soaking up information about manatees and the environment they live in.
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| From top to bottom: 1) While kayaking in the Orange River, Joey takes a photo of the crab trap buoy with the manatee beside it; 2) the manatee swims, towing the entangled crab trap; 3) The newly named Tang-Lee rests in the rehabilitation pool at Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa. (Top two photos by Joey LaMountain; Bottom photo courtesy Nancy Kilmartin, Manatee Park) |
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One day in late January, Joey was kayaking on the Orange River when he saw a crab trap buoy surface with a manatee right beside it. Thinking it was strange, he paddled over and noticed that the line was entangled in the manatee’s right flipper. Joey grabbed his cell phone, called the hotline number for reporting injured manatees, and then took photographs. “I had the FWC number programmed into my phone just in case anything happened,” he explained.
FWC rescue staff were in the area, having received other reports, and Joey pointed the manatee out to them. They followed the manatee, making several attempts to tag, or attach a tracking device, but unfortunately they were unsuccessful. A later attempt proved more fortunate, and the manatee was rescued in early March and taken to Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa for rehabilitation.
At the end of March. Joey was at Lowry Park Zoo when he discovered the manatee he had reported was there. “The staff at Lowry had named the manatee Tang-Lee because she was rescued in the Orange River and in Lee County,” said Joey. “When I saw her in the Orange River, the crab trap line was embedded in her flipper and wrapped around three times. It was pretty deep. Her wound was white, because she had been carrying the line around for so long. I felt really sad for her.”
A recuperated Tang-Lee was released back into the wild in May, and Joey was there to see her off. “The next day, everyone at school said they saw me on the news,” he said. “I felt really proud because I helped rescue her, and she looked really well, which made me feel even more proud. I thanked FWC and Lowry for all their hard work.”
”Joey is an amazing young man,” says Nancy Kilmartin, a Senior Program Specialist at Manatee Park who has mentored and encouraged Joey. “He is so interested in anything that has to do with the environment.” According to Kilmartin, Joey recently completed two impressive projects. He researched local fish to create a PowerPoint program and laminated fish ID cards for park volunteers so they could show patrons the type of fish they see while visiting Manatee Park. “I am amazed at his eagerness to learn and share his knowledge,” she said.
And Joey is keeping track of his volunteer hours at Manatee Park. ”Someday I want to be a marine biologist, and I might use it later for college,” he said. “When I was in Massachusetts, I wasn’t interested in this stuff, but now I love fish, I love manatees, I love turtles. I love it all!”
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On the day of Tang-Lee's release, Joey is interviewed by a reporter with a local television station. (Photo courtesy Nancy Kilmartin, Manatee Park)
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Update!
On June 6th, Joey was honored with a VITA Wireless Samaritan Award from The Wireless Foundation and CTIA-The Wireless Association for using his cellphone to alert authorities that Tang-Lee the manatee was entangled in a crab trap. Joey and his mom attended the Foundation's Annual Achievement Awards Dinner at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. The VITA Wireless Samaritan Award honors those who have used wireless technology in emergencies to summon help, stop crimes and save lives as well as the "the best of our nation's leadership, its youth and its scholars."
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| Already a member of Save the Manatee Club, Joey received a certificate of appreciation and a Club t-shirt for his efforts to help Tang-Lee. We also gave him a complimentary membership renewal and adoption of Ginger (pictured at far left), a manatee who has been known to winter at Manatee Park. “I think manatees are the coolest animal in the world,” Joey said. |
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