News

Coastal Adoption Update

By Cora Berchem, Director of Multimedia and Manatee Research Associate

Summer is always a slower time for manatee sightings and adoptee updates as manatees are more dispersed and travel freely through rivers, estuaries, and shallow coastal areas in search of food, socialization, and mating. Our partners did not have any sightings of Tampa Bay adoptees Jemp, Ginger, Elsie, Flicker, or Vector this summer, and East Coast adoptees Chessie, Illusion, and Zelda did not make an appearance either. The only dependable adoptee was once again Millie, who was seen in the Ocklawaha River near Moss Bluff Lock and Dam by our research partners from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute in July. Millie recently seems to enjoy spending her summers in the Silver and Ocklawaha rivers, which connect to the St. Johns River. Manatees can enter the system through the Buckman Lock; however, a free-flowing Ocklawaha River would make the passage for manatees much easier. Alongside our partners, we continue advocating to reunite the rivers and provide safer access for manatees like Millie.