News

Coastal Adoption Update

By Cora Berchem, Director of Multimedia and Manatee Research Associate

Summer is usually a slower time when it comes to spotting our adoptees as they migrate and spend time in coastal areas, estuaries, and rivers. They are harder to spot in these areas than at their warm-water winter aggregation sites. Mating herds, though, are more common in the warmer months. A large mating herd appeared in Lake Monroe in Central Florida in early June with several of our Blue Spring adoptees. However, we received no new sightings from our partners for any of our coastal adoptees Chessie, Illusion, Zelda, Vector, Flicker, Elsie, Jemp, or Ginger.

Once again, Millie proved to be the reliable one and was spotted in the Ocklawaha River in July by a local boat captain shortly after we received a citizen sighting of her in the Silver River. Millie is easy to recognize since she has several large scars on her back and a big part of her tail missing—injuries that she sustained from collisions with watercraft in the past but that are now well healed. Interestingly, Millie wasn’t the only adoptee spotted in the Silver River this summer—Gator made an appearance, too! This is the first sighting we’ve received of Gator in the Silver River!