Club Helps to Expand Warm-Water Habitat
for Manatees at State Park
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Two wild manatees at Homosassa, outside the gate looking in. Photo © Patrick M. Rose, SMC.
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For further information, contact:
For Immediate Release: November 30, 2010
Note: A high resolution jpeg (300 dpi) of two wild manatees at Homosassa, outside the gate looking in, is available upon request.
A new spring run gate will open at Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park this Friday, December 3rd at 10 a.m., allowing the wild manatee population to swim through for the first time in the park’s history and enjoy the warmth and safety of the main spring throughout the winter months.
The event, hosted by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Florida State Parks, will commemorate the opening of the gate underneath the bridge that stretches across the spring run and separates captive, rehabilitating manatees in the spring bowl from the wild manatees in the spring run.
Save the Manatee Club, which provided funding for the new gate, has always supported the opening of the springs to the wild manatees, while also supporting the dedicated rehabilitation efforts of the park. “It’s good news for the manatees whose overall population suffered devastating, record-setting mortality in the first part of the year from cold stress,” said Patrick Rose, the Club’s Executive Director. “With the head spring’s temperatures of 72 degrees year-round, this is an ideal place for manatees to gather and keep warm when temperatures drop in Florida. Also, it provides a harassment-free area where people can observe manatees but not directly interact with them.”
Historically, the Club has contributed to various manatee protection efforts at Homosassa, including funding this past winter for heating support tanks, veterinary care, and food to rehabilitate rescued manatees suffering from cold stress. Also, in 2009, the Club funded the Park’s “Manatee Watch” pontoon boat to serve as a quick-response, high visibility, electric-powered vessel that can be dispatched in emergencies.
Other participants at this Friday’s event, including representatives from Save the Manatee Club and DEP, are the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and other partners. The event is open to the public with regular park admission. For additional details, visit www.floridastateparks.org/homosassasprings/events.cfm.
Click here to find out about the Club’s Adopt-A-Manatee® program.
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