Manatee Scientists Location: Gainesville, Florida Day 12 by Karen Brown

In the lab, they look at whatever pictures they took. They keep track of any notes they took while they were in the water with the manatees. (Remember when Susan, on Day 3, wrote down on her slate after she measured the manatees? Well, at the lab she has to organize all those measurements so that all the other scientists can study them, too.)

The biologists need a work room to make their special radio tags for keeping track of the manatees. They need an office, a place to keep their books and papers, a place to keep their scientific instruments, and a place to do their studies and experiments.

We were able to visit that place today!

It is called the Sirenia Project. Actually, the lab is several rooms inside a building in Gainesville, Florida.

Mr. Bob Bonde, the Senior Project Biologist, took us on a tour of the lab. He showed us all of the rooms and introduced us to all of the people. We saw how they keep track of 1400 manatees by looking at the pictures the scientists take of their tails and backs. They keep all the pictures very carefully organized in notebooks and on the computer.

They also keep very close track of the manatees that have radio tags on them. From a computer in the lab, they can link with a satellite. That satellite picks up the radio signal from the tag that the manatee is wearing. Using the radio signal data, the computer shows the scientist exactly where the manatee is. We asked Dean (We met Mr. Dean Easton on Day 3.) to tell us where the cow and her calf that were tagged two weeks ago were today. He showed us on his computer screen that they were about 8-10 miles south of the Homosassa River, in the Chassahowitzka River. He said they were moving slowly. So that probably means that they are eating and sleeping a lot. (We found out the mother and calf have names, now. The mother is Dimitra. The calf is Ivan.)

One of the scientists there, Chip Deutsch, Ph.D., showed us a map of Florida on his computer. The map had little plus signs scattered along the coast of Florida and some of the little plus signs were very close together. He explained to us that those plus signs showed where the manatees migrate. He could see from his computer (which got its information from the satellite) that manatees like to go where the water is warm. There were a lot of little plus signs where the warm water comes out of a nuclear power plant. Also, he could tell that manatees like to go where there is a sewage plant. That's where they can get water to drink!

Another thing that Dr. Deutsch learned by looking at the information his computer was giving him was that manatees seem to come back to the same places year after year. They will travel long distances, but it is always to the exact same place. The mothers will even have their babies in the same place that they had their other babies.

I learned a lot about manatees today. Bob and all of the other scientists were very friendly and happy to share what they are learning about manatees. They are very pleased that all of you are so fascinated with manatees, too.

Here are some things that Bob told me about manatees:

Manatees are intelligent, curious, and adaptable. Scientists used to think that manatees weren't so smart because they have a small brain. But we are finding that manatees have the ability to track, migrate, and move quickly and easily to find warm water. And the mother teaches her calf how to do this. Manatees have a very good memory.

Manatees are inquisitive. They will go and check out anything. That's why they come up to snorkelers.

They do not hunt in groups like killer whales do. Because they do not have to look for fish or other animals to eat, they do not need to hunt.

Manatees are adaptable. They are somewhat sociable with each other. They have to share food, shelter, freshwater and space with other manatees. Often they will gather together to share these things.

They are learning to stay away from boats. Some manatees have been observed going into deep channels when they hear a boat coming. But they always have to be alert for boats. In some areas there are so many fast boats that the manatees get hit. It would be as if you and I lived in the middle of a highway and always had to run to the side of the road to get food and water. It would not be easy to live like that for very long.Sooner or later one of us would probably get hit by a car.

It is nice to know that the people at the Sirenia Project are working so hard to learn as much as possible about manatees. They pass on what they learn to the people in the Florida state government and to the U.S. government so that good laws can be passed that will help the manatees.

Manatee Fun Fact: The satellite tags are teaching us that not all manatees sleep all night long. Some manatees will go out and feed at night, especially if there are a lot of dangerous boats around in the day.

Where are they? (Dean checks his computer map to find out where Dimitra and Ivan are.) The satellite tags on Dimitra and Ivan send signals that are picked up by satellite and sent to Dean's compture.

Dr. Deutsch looks for tagged manatees along the east coast of Florida, using satellite tracking tags.

other expeditions  |  kids' page  | contact us