News

Alabama/DISL Adoption Update

By Dr. Ruth Carmichael, Director, DISL, & Sophia Corde, PhD Student, Univ. of South Alabama and DISL

The 2024-25 winter season was exceptionally busy for the Dauphin Island Sea Lab/Manatee Sighting Network, with the highest number of stranded manatee responses in Alabama history! We ended 2024 with the rescue of a distressed manatee in an industrial canal in Mobile, Alabama, and started 2025 with the rescue of a second distressed manatee from Magnolia Springs, Alabama. The Magnolia Springs rescue marked the first manatee rescue of the new year in the U.S. In both cases, our team worked with the Manatee Rescue and Rehabilitation Partnership to quickly coordinate rescue and transport of the animal to Florida for specialized care in a critical care facility. Both manatees exhibited typical signs of cold stress, which is the leading cause of death for manatees in Alabama and nearby waters of the northern Gulf. Rapid reporting by the public made these rescues a success, stressing the importance of reporting manatee sightings year-round, but especially outside of Florida during the winter months when animals are at greater risk of becoming distressed and sick. You can find manatee reporting tools at savethemanatee.org/report.

We would like to extend a huge thank you to all those who support research efforts on northern Gulf manatees. We couldn’t do this work without the incredible contributions of our supporters.