If you are out boating in the St. Johns River area, researchers are asking for the public’s help in tracking a rehabilitated tagged Florida manatee named Pine that may be traveling in the Lake Harney area. Public sightings will further enable researchers to quickly obtain the exact location of Pine and lead to her successful retagging with working equipment. If you see a manatee with a radio-transmitter tag in the St. Johns River, please call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) dispatch at 1-888-404-FWCC (3922). You may also call #FWC or *FWC on a cellular phone or use VHF Channel 16 on your marine radio. Give dispatchers the time, date and location where you saw the tagged manatee and the colors of the tag observed. Please do not touch the transmitter tags (people with good intentions have pulled tags off manatees, thinking the manatee was entangled in crab trap lines and buoys).

Pine was rescued with another female, Forest, from the Ortega River in January 2002 and treated for cold stress at a rehabilitation facility. Pine and Forest were released in the St. Johns River at Blue Spring State Park in February 2003. The Manatee Rehabilitation Partnership, a cooperative effort of nonprofit, private, state and federal entities, fitted both manatees with radio-transmitter tags to help researchers monitor their health and adaptation back into the wild. However, last week Pine’s tag stopped transmitting.

Hopefully, Pine is still wearing her tracking device. The tracking device consists of three components: a belt, tether and radio-transmitter tag. The belt is placed around the animal’s peduncle, the narrow area just above the tail. It is equipped to fall off after a designated time period. The tether is attached to the belt and is designed to break free of the animal if needed. Finally, the radio-transmitter tag is attached to the tether and floats just above the surface of the water line. Viewed from above the water, the radio tag looks somewhat like a floating soda can with a straw. Only the top of the canister is visible at the surface and is covered with brightly colored reflective tape. A short, black antenna extends six inches above the top. Each tag has unique tag colors that are associated with an individual animal.

Thanks for your assistance!

Learn more about manatee research and manatee tracking by visiting the following Web sites:

Florida Marine Research Institute

U.S. Geological Survey, Sirenia Project

Wildtracks.org