Manatee sighting network launches naming contest
http://thevanguardonline.com/life/14...g-contest.html
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The Manatee Sighting Network’s Naming Contest will go on until April 1 when the list of finalist names will be put up for public vote via Facebook. (Jake Howell | Jaglife Editor)
Monday, 11 February 2013 19:48
For many who’ve grown up along the Gulf coast, manatees might be a familiar sight. These large, otherworldly creatures frequent the warm shallow waters of our coastline, feeding on sea grasses and socializing with one another during a large portion of the year.
Since 2007, the Manatee Sighting Network (MSN) has been conducting research on and cataloging sightings of manatees in Alabama and Mississippi waters.
Based out of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, the MSN was founded by Dr. Ruth Carmichael under the umbrella of the Marine Mammal Research Program.
The MSN is a unique program in the United States, being the only formal manatee sighting network. It also conducts the only research on manatees in the northern Gulf of Mexico outside of Florida.
“The West Indian manatee is a federal endangered species, and research gathered by MSN informs decisions on species recovery efforts and future conservation management. Our work has yielded important information on manatee movements and habitat use,” manager of the MSN Elizabeth Hieb said of the importance of the MSN’s work.
“By learning when and where manatees are in our area, we can reduce the likelihood of conflicts between manatees and people, ensuring that both continue to thrive in our area,” Hieb added.
Unfortunately for the manatees, one of the greatest causes of their declines are human activity. Manatees are often identified using scar patters on their backs and tails, scars left behind by boat strikes.
Manatees are relatively slow swimmers and a large number of these animals are hit and killed by boats each year. By determining when and where the manatees spend their time while in the northern Gulf of Mexico, disastrous interactions between humans and manatees can be mitigated.
The MSN is funded entirely by grants and donations. In order to raise additional funds to conduct their research and organize outreach programs, the MSN is launching the first Alabama Manatee Naming Contest.
According to Hieb, the MSN “launched the first manatee tagging effort in Alabama waters in 2009. By tagging manatees with satellite tags, we are able to monitor their movements over a more long-term period, including migration patterns from our area to south-central Florida.”
“Through the tagging project, we have learned that the Mobile Bay area is an important habitat for “Florida manatees,” and that the same manatees return to our area year after year. That means these animals follow the same migration pattern from Alabama to the Crystal River area of Florida (over 400 miles) every year.”
Tagged manatees are normally identified with numbers, but in order to help the public identify with and remember individual animals, the MSN often gives them nicknames.
As part of the naming contest, however, the general public can take part in choosing a name for one of these creatures.
The contest runs through April 1 and those who wish to participate can make a cash/check donation to MSN, purchase an MSN t-shirt or a Tacky Jack’s gift card to enter. The finalists’ manatee names will be posted on the MSN’s Facebook page, facebook.com/mobilemanatees, for the public to vote on their favorites.
For those who wish to find out more information on the work that the MSN does, the MSN website, manatee.disl.org, is an excellent resource.
