Biologists Artie Wong and Monica Ross set out to track manatees on the St. Johns River. (Photo by Christine Strickland, Save the Manatee Club)

Once sick, injured, or orphaned manatees have been rescued and rehabilitated, they are released whenever possible. In order to make sure the manatees are successfully reintroduced, they are tracked and observed for a period of time by manatee researchers. The researchers monitor behavior to see if the manatees are feeding on vegetation, maintaining a healthy weight, socializing with other animals, and avoiding boats, among other things. These are all skills used to determine whether manatees are successfully adapting to life back in the wild.

In March, SMC biologist Artie Wong went out on the St. Johns River with Monica Ross, a biologist with Wildlife Trust. Hop aboard as Monica and Artie track Annie, Rocket, and Hurricane, three recently released manatees.

By Artie Wong, SMC Staff Biologist

Aussie scouts for manatees. (Photo by Artie Wong, SMC)

It is 9:00 a.m. on March 6th when I arrive at Hontoon Island State Park to meet Monica Ross, a biologist with Wildlife Trust. The sky is clear, the water is calm, and the weather is cool, but the sun promises to warm us up throughout the day. This is going to be a great day for tracking manatees! Today we will be tracking three manatees named Annie, Rocket, and Hurricane.

Monica’s three-legged Australian shepherd mix, Aussie, comes running out to meet me on the dock. Aussie may only have three legs, but she runs around just like other dogs, and she loves to track manatees! Allen Brown, a cameraman with Watermark TV, is filming the day’s trip for a documentary on manatees, and he also greets me as I step on board the tracking boat and join the crew. I wonder: Is Monica Ross a manatee celebrity?

Monica has been a biologist since 1991, and she has been tracking manatees for over 11 years. She tracks manatees for the Manatee Rehabilitation Partnership, a cooperative effort of nonprofit, private, state and federal entities that have equipped the manatees with tracking gear in order to help researchers and veterinarians monitor their health and re-adaptation to the wild.

(Top) Biologist Monica Ross holds the antenna, trying to pick up the signal of the manatee's tag, which emits a VHF signal that can be heard through a special transceiver box (at bottom). (Photos © Allen Forrest Brown, Watermark.TV Inc.)

When I first began studying manatees, Monica taught me how to track them. The manatee has a floating tag fastened to a nylon tether that is attached to a special belt around the base of the manatee’s tail. As the manatee swims, it pulls the floating tag around with it. The tag emits a VHF signal that we can hear through a special transceiver box. It sounds like a short beep. The closer we get, the louder it becomes. The signal can only be heard when it is floating above water. If the tag or belt gets stuck or entangled on something, it will break away and allow the manatee to swim free.

Monica starts up the engine and we take off to find Annie and Rocket first. Annie is a female manatee rescued as an orphan in 2005. She was only 70 pounds at the time. Rocket is a male manatee, and he was also rescued as an orphan in 2006. He weighed 170 pounds. Both Annie and Rocket were taken to SeaWorld of Florida to recover, and they were released at Blue Spring State Park in February 2008. By that time, they had gained just a bit of weight! Annie was about 1,055 pounds, and Rocket weighed 745 pounds on the day of their release.

“The last time I saw Annie and Rocket, they were together,” says Monica. After driving approximately four miles, Monica slows down and turns on the transceiver box. We listen carefully for beeps, while Monica points the transceiver antenna in different directions. Beep, beep, beep, the beeps get louder, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, and Monica slowly drives in the direction of the louder beeps.

Artie uses binoculars to look for Hurricane. Finally, Hurricane's floating transmitter, or tag, is sighted, and then Hurricane surfaces to breathe. (Photos © Allen Forrest Brown, Watermark.TV Inc.)

We scan the area and, sure enough, we find Annie and Rocket together underneath the shade of a tree near the canoe launch at Blue Spring State Park. There is an unknown manatee with them. It appears that Annie and Rocket are resting with their new friend. We watch the manatees and write down their behavior to determine how they are doing in the wild. By watching the animals closely, Monica is able to make recommendations to biologists and veterinarians about the success of an animal’s reintroduction.

With plenty of information collected, we head off to look for Hurricane. Hurricane is much older than Annie and Rocket. He is a male manatee that was born at Miami Seaquarium in 1983 and has lived in captivity his whole life, spending time at the Cincinnati Zoo, Columbus Zoo, Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, Lowry Park Zoo, Miami Seaquarium, and Epcot's The Living Seas before being released with Annie and Rocket in February.

We find Hurricane a couple miles away in Lake Beresford. He is also resting but is alone. He swims over to our boat to inspect us. Monica discourages this behavior by ignoring him and not advancing closer to him. We do not want Hurricane to form an unnatural association with us, as this could distract him from normal manatee behaviors, such as feeding and socializing with other manatees.

Monica is pleased to see that the manatees are doing well so far. We head back and discuss the day’s events together. This will be just one of many trips that Monica makes to observe the manatees, and she will report her findings to the veterinarians and other researchers that are part of the MRP. As Annie, Rocket, and Hurricane adjust to life in the wild, it is great to know that Monica is keeping a watchful eye over them.

Annie and Rocket are discovered resting beneath the trees at Blue Spring State Park. Notice the tracking gear, which includes a transmitter in a floating tube attached by a tether to a belt that fits around the base of the manatee's tail. (Photo © Allen Forrest Brown, Watermark.TV Inc.)

 

Get More Info!

• Get the latest updates on Annie, Rocket, Hurricane, and Muddy Baron, the four manatees that were released in February of this year. Read field notes and updates from biologist Monica Ross and see data maps with recent tag locations. Go to www.wildtracks.org.
  
  The Manatee Rehabilitation Partnership is a cooperative group of nonprofit, private, state, and federal entities with a stake in tracking the post-release fate of rehabilitated manatees in the wild. Save the Manatee Club is one of the founding partners of the MRP. Other founding partners include the Columbus Zoo, Disney Conservation Fund, EPCOT-Living Seas, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute, Lowry Park Zoo, Miami Seaquarium, SeaWorld Florida, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey’s Sirenia Project, and Wildlife Trust.
  
  
  
• Learn how you can help SMC do even more to help sick and injured manatees.