Feds Seek Info on Manatee Crime

[GordMay]

Manatees produce high fat milk [see citations, below].
Warm water is a must for the West Indian and West African manatee species. With low metabolic rates, and minimal fat protection from cold water, they stick to water that is 60 degrees or warmer. They may look fat and insulated, but the large body of the manatee is mostly made up of their stomach and intestines.
Manatees are typically found in shallow coastal areas and rivers where they feed on sea grass, mangrove leaves, and algae. These herbivores munch on food for almost half the day, eating ten percent of their body weight in plant mass every day.
Female manatees usually have one calf every two to five years and the calf then stays and nurses for two years. Calves nurse from their mother’s teats, which are found right where the forward limbs meet the body. The calves also can start nibbling on plants at only a few weeks old.

“Composition of milk from the florida manatee, Trichechus manatus latirostris” ~ by K.C. Bachman & A.B. Irvine
1. Milk composition data on the Florida manatee, Trichechus manatus latirostris were collected.
2. Manatee milk had a higher content of lipid and protein than bovine milk. No lactose and a very small amount of citric acid were present.
3. Manatee milk fat was primarily triglyceride and present as globules (0.7-7.0 μm in diameter). Of total fatty acids, 18:1, 16:0, and 16:1 accounted for 47, 20 and 12%. Phospholipid and cholesterol were present.
4. Three major protein bands were evident upon electrophoresis; no protein precipitated at pH4.6.
5. Salt content of manatee milk was higher than that of bovine milk.
➥ https://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...00962979900203

“Manatee Milk Analysis: Changes Throughout Nursing” ~ by Michael T. Walsh et al
“... Protein analysis showed levels of 5.4 to 10% in all females examined and levels of 5.4 to 8.3% in the first female sampled through out nursing. Fat analysis showed a level of less than 1 gm of lipid in colostrum to 18 gms per 100 mls during the nursing period. Manatee milk is high in 12:0, 16:0, 18:1 fatty acids. Sugar analysis is currently underway...”
➥ https://www.vin.com/apputil/content/...186&pid=11257&

[AA3JY]

Interesting…

https://amp.floridatoday.com/amp/7190862001

https://news.yahoo.com/brevard-count...162054695.html

[GordMay]

Scientists learn to speak manatee

Researchers listened to seven years of manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) chat to learn how the gentle, solitary grazers communicate. Almost all of the creatures’ vocalizations fall into three categories: a high squeak used between mother and calf, a lower squeak that indicated stress and a squeal recorded during “cavorting” and “frisky behaviour”.

Hear them all in Scientific American’s 60-Second Science podcast.
➥ https://www.scientificamerican.com/p...dden-language/

“New Research Decodes the Sea Cow's Hidden Language” ~ by Ashleigh Papp for Scientific American
➥ https://www.scientificamerican.com/p...dden-language/

“Behavior related vocalizations of the Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris)” ~ by Beth Brady, Jon Moore, & Kim Love
➥ https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/...1111/mms.12904

[Manateeman]

Cavorting or frisky behavior. Changes in vessel stability.
Add beer and a few manatettes [cute female manatees] and a Saturday night dance becomes a blubber butt frolic.
Rock and roll takes on new meaning.
Born nude...Live nude...party nude...pizza and beer...frolicking female manatees.
This is a life well spent.
Happy trails to you.
Thank you Gordo for the science behind the madness.
Captain Mark

[MicHughV]

Most people think of Manatee's as slow, lumbering mammals, but let me tell you, they have the ability to move at amazing speed, a spectacle I have only witnessed once, when they came zipping past my anchored boat doing a good 15 knots..

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

Most people think of Manatee's as slow, lumbering mammals, but let me tell you, they have the ability to move at amazing speed, a spectacle I have only witnessed once, when they came zipping past my anchored boat doing a good 15 knots..

A couple of years ago we were kayaking along the mangroves on the east side of North Captiva Island. It was right at sunset and just starting to get dark. We didn't see the half dozen or so manatees dozing in the shallows and just as we started to pass they all blasted past us into deep water. Made a giant splash and startled the stuff out of us. I guarantee they were doing way over 15 knots when they blew by.

[GordMay]

Manatees have two fore limb flippers, that they use for steering movements, and to hold vegetation while eating. A large, round, flattened paddle-shaped tail is used for swimming.
Manatees use their tails, in an up and down motion, to propel themselves forward.

Manatees generally swim at a rate of 3 to 5 mph [2.6 - 4.5 Knots]. By comparison, a Roomba vacuum cleaner tops out at speeds of 3.8 mph.
But, they are capable of reaching speeds of 15 - 20 miles per hour [13 - 17 Knots], in short bursts.

Manatees rest from 2 to 12 hours a day either suspended near the water's surface or lying on the bottom, usually for several hours at a time.

[Manateeman]

One with a beeper attached swam from Florida to Rhode Island and back in one summer. If my crew were not so spoiled by hand thrown pizza and imported beer, two of them could push me at hull speed.
Obviously ideal for catamarans on low wind days.
Happy No Fuel traveling
Mark

[AA3JY]

March 30th

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Manateeman

One with a beeper attached swam from Florida to Rhode Island and back in one summer...

“CHESSIE” THE LONG-DISTANCE SWIMMING MANATEE

Chessie is a male West Indian Manatee who, in summer 1994, earned his name, by showing up in Chesapeake Bay, much further north than the species is known to travel. Fearing that he would die from the cold of oncoming fall and winter, biologists flew him back to Florida and let him go.

Well, wouldn't you know it, that pesky manatee was back to his old tricks, in 1995, when he took off and headed north again. This time, however, biologists at the National Biological Service's Sirenia Project office in Gainesville, Florida were ready. They had placed a satellite transmitter "tag" on Chessie, so they could follow his movements, and learn from his migration. Also, they could find and rescue him if he got into trouble.

Nobody knows for sure why Chessie swims north. It might be that he has found something he likes to eat, in the more northern waters. Perhaps he just likes to explore. But, as it turns out, Chessie knows what he's doing.

In 1995 he swam all the way up to Point Judith, Rhode Island, setting a world's record for a West Indian Manatee!
He has gone further north than any other West Indian Manatee in recorded history!

But when the water started cooling off, he turned around and swam right back down the coast to Florida again. Unfortunately, his transmitter fell off in Connecticut, so his route back is somewhat obscure. (The transmitters have a special "weak link" designed to snap if the transmitter gets caught, to avoid harming the manatee). He was sighted along the way back to Florida by fishermen, boaters, and even a surfer. Biologists were amazed when he showed up in November in Florida, after swimming 3,000 miles round trip! ...”

Much more ➥ The Wonders of the Seas: Chessie

Below is a map of his locations and dates in 1995 (courtesy of the Sirenia Project):

[AA3JY]

I personally saw Chessie in our marina off the Chester River, Chesapeake Bay he was finally caught in Queenstown Harbor and flown back to Fl..but returned the following year.. Very appropriate name

[GordMay]

UPDATE: January 28, 2022

“Chessie” the Manatee Resurfaces after Apparent Gator Attack

Chessie, the manatee, that gained fame for making sporadic visits to the Chesapeake Bay over three decades, has made yet another reappearance, easing fears that a possible alligator attack, last summer [2021], had done him in.

When his satellite tag stopped transmitting, last June, in waters near Jacksonville, FL, scientists suspected that an alligator, or a boat, had damaged it. For more than six months, Chessie’s whereabouts were unknown.

But on Tuesday, Jan. 25, an underwater microphone, deployed by the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, detected a separate,and apparently still-operative,tracking device attached to the 1,500-pound mammal. The sonic transmitter showed that Chessie was basking in the warm discharge, from a power plant in Fort Lauderdale, more than 300 miles south of his last known location.

The aquarium’s staff hurried to the canal. They located the manatee and fastened a fresh satellite tag to him, according to the nonprofit’s press release.

He popped up in the Bay again in 2001 and 2011. But then he was off the grid until he was recovered in February 2021, emaciated and suffering from pneumonia. Unlike hundreds of Florida manatees that have died of starvation amid a recent mass die-off of seagrass, Chessie survived. [1]

After rehabilitating at SeaWorld Orlando, he was released last May. He then swam up the coast to Jacksonville, mimicking earlier northward journeys.[1]

[1] Chessie The Manatee - A SeaWorld Rescue Story ➥ https://youtu.be/-l_fWhZW-j4

Manatee Tracking – Chessie ➥ https://mission.cmaquarium.org/news/...cking-chessie/

[GordMay]

See a baby-manatee rescue mission

In this richly photographed feature, follow the journey of three orphaned baby manatees [‘Calliope’, ‘Soleil’, & ‘Piccolina’], that were found in Florida, rescued by a zoo team, flown across the country, wined and dined, for a year, to gain strength, and then flown back to Florida, and released into the wild.
How to Move a 1,000-Pound Rescued Manatee (Swimming Isn’t an Option)
➥ https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/07/c...smid=url-share

[Iron E]

Originally Posted by GordMay

See a baby-manatee rescue mission

In this richly photographed feature, follow the journey of three orphaned baby manatees [‘Calliope’, ‘Soleil’, & ‘Piccolina’], that were found in Florida, rescued by a zoo team, flown across the country, wined and dined, for a year, to gain strength, and then flown back to Florida, and released into the wild.
How to Move a 1,000-Pound Rescued Manatee (Swimming Isn’t an Option)
➥ https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/07/c...smid=url-share

Since you're onto the Manatee factoids, I was once reading excerpts of Christopher Columbus's Journal (translated) and read what he wrote when he thought he saw a Mermaid, which was actually a Manatee.

"I saw a Siren today... and ... umm... well, they aren't as beautiful as they paint them."

[AA3JY]

Mating season at the Haulover Canal.. one of a few viewable sections along the AICW to watch Manatees in their cavortingly ways..����