Paddle with a Purpose
 |
| Sales of a new Swift kayak paddle with a manatee design will raise funds for manatee conservation and help educate the public. |
For further information, contact:
For Immediate Release: May 4, 2009
Note: A high resolution jpeg (300 dpi) of the Swift Paddle and/or a kayaker is available upon request. Contact Janice Nearing at jnearing@savethemanatee.org.
A Washington-based company, Eddyline Kayaks, is helping endangered manatees in Florida through sales of a new Swift kayak paddle that will raise funds for manatee conservation and help educate the public.
Eddyline Kayaks is a small 38 year old, family owned, and environmentally conscious company run by Tom and Lisa Derrer. When Steve Sapienza, their Midwest representative, visited Crystal River, Florida and went kayaking, he saw incidents of manatee harassment first-hand and thought Eddyline could help. Steve approached the Derrers about creating a paddle with a fabric inlay featuring a manatee scene to add to their existing Swift Paddles line. And for each of these paddles sold, Eddyline is donating $15 to Save the Manatee Club for their manatee conservation work. The Club is a national nonprofit organization co-founded in 1981 by renowned singer/songwriter, Jimmy Buffett. Steve, along with Tracy Colson, a Crystal River manatee advocate, also developed a Kayaker’s Pledge outlining how to kayak with manatees and observe them without causing them harm.
According to experts, swimming and diving with manatees, although seemingly benign, can lead to manatee harassment, and in some scenarios, contribute to a manatee’s injury or even death. A case in point is the swim-with-the-manatee programs in Crystal River, a small town on Florida’s west coast that
is home to over 400 endangered manatees during the winter months.
“The best way to observe manatees in the wild is through passive observation – that means no touching, no chasing, no feeding, and no watering wild manatees. Remember that the manatees are here not to entertain us, but to survive,” says Matt Clemons, a veteran environmentalist who runs kayak eco tours from his shop, Aardvark’s Florida Kayak Company, in Crystal River. Matt is a former state manatee researcher and a board member of Save the Manatee Club who, like Steve, is very concerned about manatees being harassed and the long-term implications of manatees acclimating to humans.
Over 100,000 people descend on the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge in winter to don snorkel or scuba gear and dive with manatees. Some have been caught on tape riding manatees, kicking them, separating dependent calves from their mothers, and chasing manatees. All of these actions are considered harassment, which is illegal under the federal Endangered Species Act. A question that is often asked: Just how much interaction should be allowed between divers and manatees, especially in a national refuge created to protect these endangered marine mammals?
“The shear numbers of people diving with manatees can disrupt these gentle giants. We support increased education, protection measures, and enforcement to mitigate the cumulative effects of all these people trying to have a personal experience with a manatee. Conscientious kayaking can be a great alternative to the swim-with programs and we’re very grateful to Eddyline for their efforts to address the on-going problems that human/manatee interaction can create,” said Patrick Rose, an aquatic biologist and executive director of the Club.
Lisa Derrer is thrilled that Eddyline can help. “Kayaking can be one of the least intrusive ways to enjoy the natural world and to observe wildlife, and we’re happy that our product will be a benefit to endangered manatees.”
###
