Watch our video and learn about Save the Manatee Club’s work:
who we are, what we do, and why we need your support.
Who We Are:
Save the Manatee Club is an award-winning national nonprofit 501(c)(3) and membership-based organization established in 1981 by renowned singer/songwriter, Jimmy Buffett, and former U.S. Senator, Bob Graham, when he was governor of Florida.
Why We Need Your Support:
Human activities are harming manatees, and only our compassion and action can protect them.
Manatees are Florida’s official state marine mammal. The IUCN World Conservation Union lists them as vulnerable at the international level. They are listed as threatened at the federal level by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and at the state level by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). Their listing status is largely due to human activity. Since record-keeping began in 1974, more than 41% of manatee deaths where the cause of death was identified were human-related – and almost 34% were due to watercraft collisions (the largest known cause of manatee deaths). With increased awareness, education, regulations, and enforcement, manatee deaths caused by humans could be substantially reduced, and the eventual recovery of the species could be realized.
Our Mission:
Save the Manatee Club’s mission is to protect manatees and their aquatic habitat for future generations.
Our Objective:
The Club’s objective is the recovery and protection of manatees and their aquatic ecosystems throughout the world.
Our Goals:
In order to fully recover the imperiled manatee population and maintain an optimal sustainable population — our goals are:
- To protect and recover ample healthy habitat to support a stable or growing manatee population.
- To reduce manatee harassment, injuries, and deaths from human activity.
- To ensure that sufficient regulatory protections have been adopted and are supported by a broad constituency to accomplish these goals for the present and foreseeable future.
Our Work:
In order to accomplish our objective and goals, we concentrate our efforts on reducing the negative impacts to manatees and their aquatic habitat caused by human activity through:
- Increasing public awareness and education
- Sponsoring research, rescue, rehabilitation, and release efforts
- Advocating for strong protection measures, such as boat speed zones and sanctuaries
- Taking legal action when appropriate
- Supporting rescue, rehabilitation, research, and education efforts in the Wider Caribbean, South America, and West Africa
Our Core Values:
- Supporting the most effective conservation actions possible
- Making science-based decisions and supporting science-driven policies
- Demanding accountability from policy-makers
- Working cooperatively
Read a 35-year retrospective of Save the Manatee Club and its manatee conservation work. All documents in pdf format.
- See highlights of 2022 programs and activities
- See highlights of 2020 programs and activities
- See highlights of 2019 programs and activities
- See highlights of 2018 programs and activities
- See highlights of 2017 programs and activities
- See highlights of 2016 programs and activities
- See highlights of 2015 programs and activities
- See highlights of 2014 programs and activities
- See highlights of 2013 programs and activities
- See highlights of 2012 programs and activities
- See highlights of 2011 programs and activities
- See highlights of 2010 programs and activities
- See highlights of 2009 programs and activities
- See highlights of 2008 programs and activities
- See highlights of 2007 programs and activities
- See highlights of 2006 programs and activities
- See our accomplishments from 1997 – 2005
Board of Directors and Financial Statements:
- Board of Directors
- Past Board Members (pdf)
- Latest 990 Filing (pdf)
- Financial Statement (pdf)
- Privacy Policy
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