News

By Cora Berchem, Director of Multimedia and Manatee Research Associate

On a recent cold January morning, we had the pleasure of meeting 7-year-old Avery and her family from Georgia at Blue Spring State Park! Avery and her family have been supporters for the past two years and have adopted multiple manatees for the whole family from us, including Moo Shoo, Deep Dent, Doc, Merlin, Phyllis, Gator, and Margarito. But not only does the family adopt manatees through our Adopt-A-Manatee® program, Avery also designed her own adoption program. She proudly presented a very authentic scar chart similar to what our research team uses to identify manatees, indicating the manatee’s name, first sighting date, gender, size, and, of course, a drawing of the scars, which researchers use to identify manatees. Avery even puts together her own adoption packets for each manatee!  

Avery’s family got in line early to make sure to be the second car in when the park opened at 8 a.m. on January 18 to meet with SMC’s Manatee Research Associate Cora and to observe the daily roll call. While Cora counted the manatees from the research canoe, Avery counted from the boardwalk, outfitted with a clicker and notebook and looking for her adoptees. Phyllis and Gator were spotted that morning! Just like staff member Cora, Avery loves stuffed manatees and has a whole collection at home—partly thanks to her mom, Jessica, who crocheted a couple of them! Some came along for the visit at Blue Spring for an opportunity to meet with Cora’s stuffed manatee ‘Charlee,’ who accompanied her for roll call that morning.

“Avery has been in love with manatees since she was 5 years old. Avery’s grandma, Debbie, is who started her love for manatees when she adopted Aqua. In our family, we have adopted 13 different manatees so far. Avery loves to learn and read everything she can about manatees. We follow Save the Manatee Club and watch the educational videos they release. When it’s manatee season, Avery gets excited when the manatee count is posted for the day, and she loves spotting the research canoe on the webcam. We also try to find our adoptees or other familiar manatees we see frequently. It’s a great way for her to stay connected to them. She loves to make her own manatee talk videos, write her own newsletters, and teach her stuffed manatees to stay away from boats and stay warm. I love seeing her so passionate about manatees, and I know she will help to protect them and educate others,” says Avery’s mom, Jessica.

Before heading out, Avery made sure to hand out laminated manatee trading cards with the inscription “Float through Life—Limited Edition” and a drawing of a manatee, which she had designed in anticipation of her visit and handed out to park rangers and volunteers. Cora will carry her card in her research box during roll call from now on!

It was heartwarming to see the dedication, enthusiasm, and love for manatees from 7-year-old Avery and her family, and we hope to welcome them back to Blue Spring next winter! For now, they will be watching our live webcams from Georgia and seeing which adoptees they can spot on the cameras while also looking out for the red research canoe doing the daily roll call.