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Manatee Entanglement Is Not Unusual

News Channel 8 photo by PAUL LAMISON

Frannie the manatee is loaded into a sling at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo for her release into the wild in the Alafia River.

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By YVETTE C. HAMMETT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 20, 2008

RIVERVIEW - A young manatee released into the Alafia River Aug. 13 is lucky to have survived her injuries, a Lowry Park Zoo veterinarian said.

Frannie, a teenaged female manatee found entangled in crab traps and a channel marker, could easily have lost a flipper, or worse - her life, veterinarian David Murphy said.

Such entanglements aren't unusual on Florida's west coast, Murphy said. "On the east coast, it's monofilament line. Here, it's crab trap entanglement. The nylon rope just kind of saws right through them."

"We've actually had seven entanglements this year along the west coast of Florida and that's pretty much an average since 2000," said Katie Brill, a biological scientist with the Fish & Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg. The state has conducted 11 rescues so far this year.

Frannie wears a deep scar on her left flipper and across her back where the crab trap rope cut into her skin.

Biologists from the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission rescued her in June from the Pinellas side of the Howard Frankland Bridge. The zoo staff members nursed her back to health at its Florida Manatee and Aquatic Center, a designated rehabilitation facility for sick, injured or orphaned manatees.

The zoo has treated more than 200 since opening in 1991.

Another manatee rescued near the Homosassa River, nicknamed Sassy, has been placed in Murphy's care, also the victim of crab trap entanglement.

Frannie is one of the lucky ones, Murphy said. Often, amputation is required with such injuries. Because crab traps are held in place using cement blocks, manatees who become entangled in the lines attached to floats often end up dragging the blocks with them. That puts even more stress on the rope, causing more serious injuries.

"She's a very lucky girl," Murphy said, as he watched a crew release her into the Alafia River near the mouth of Tampa Bay.

"She's a valuable animal because she's a female and they really support the manatee population," Murphy said. "And because she's a youngster, she likely has 40 years ahead of her to produce a lot of babies."

Frannie weighed only 525 pounds when she was rescued. She now tilts the scales at a hefty 640 pounds.

Unlike in past rescues, when manatees have been radio-tagged and monitored after their release, money for that program has dried up, said Lowry Park veterinary intern Maria Spriggs. "Right now, we're not monitoring any of them electronically."

In this case, she said, Frannie healed well and the hope is that she will be just fine on her own.

GET HELP FOR INJURED MANATEES

If you spot a sick, injured or orphaned manatee or a manatee that is being harassed, call the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission's hotline at 1-888-404-FWCC (3922), *FWC or #FWC on a cell phone, or use VHF Channel 16 on a marine radio.

Give dispatchers the exact location of the manatee.

If the manatee appears injured, call right away. Otherwise, try to determine the number of times the manatee surfaces to breathe during a five-minute period before calling. Since manatees can stay submerged for up to 15 minutes at a time, frequent surfacing could indicate an injury.

Call:

• If you see a manatee with a pink or red wound or with deep cuts. This means the wound is fresh.

• If you see a manatee with grayish-white or white wounds, this likely means the wound has healed, but the manatee still might have internal injuries.

• If the manatee is tilting to one side, unable to submerge, seems to have trouble breathing, or is acting strangely.

• If you observe a manatee calf by itself with no adults around for an extended period of time. Manatee calves may remain dependent on their mothers for up to two years. If the mother dies before the calf is weaned, there is a strong likelihood the calf will not survive.

• If you see anyone harassing a manatee.

• If you see boaters speeding in a protected area.

• If you see a manatee that has become entangled in monofilament line, crab trap lines or other debris.

• If you see a dead manatee. By doing a necropsy, scientists can sometimes determine the cause of death and better understand the dangers to manatees.

Source: Save the Manatee Club, Maitland, Fla.

Reporter Yvette C. Hammett can be reached at (813) 865-1566 or yhammett@tampatrib.com.

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