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Hi, and welcome to Conservation Connect, where we connect you
and your classroom to awesome animals, exciting careers,
and new technologies.
Today, we're going to take an electronic field
trip all the way down to Florida to the Crystal River National
Wildlife Refuge, a place that was created
for the protection of the endangered West Indian manatee.
This unique refuge preserves the last unspoiled and undeveloped
habitat in Kings Bay, which forms
the headwaters of the Crystal River.
The refuge preserves the warm water spring sanctuary,
which provides important habitat for the manatee populations
that migrate here every single winter.
Now, in the winter, Kings Bay's warm water
springs host the largest natural population
of manatees in the entire state of Florida.
Manatees, which are sometimes called sea cows,
are very gentle creatures who are herbivores,
which means they only eat plants and vegetation.
Now just like whales and dolphins,
these water creatures are mammals,
which means they have to come up to the water surface
to get air.
They only have to come up to the water surface
about every 20 minutes.
How long do you guys think you could hold your breaths for?
Probably not more than a minute.
You see, when sailors were at sea
for a long, long period of time, they actually
believed they saw mermaids, which some people now believe
were probably manatees.
Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge
has installed an above-water webcam
in order to allow visitors and people from all
around the world, that otherwise would never
be able to see a manatee up close and personal,
to be able to observe the manatees
in their natural habitat, and allow
them to feel like they are right there.
The camera allows the public to become educated
about why it's so important that these species be protected.
They are gentle animals, and it only
becomes more evident when you can see them and spend time
with them, either physically or virtually.
Today, I'm here with Ivan Vicente.
And he's come all the way up from Florida at Crystal River
National Wildlife Refuge to be with us here today,
at the National Conservation Training Center,
right on the Potomac River.
Ivan, thank you so much for being here today.
My pleasure to be here this morning.
I hear you are a Visitor Services
Specialist and environmental educator.
Can tell me a little bit about what you do there?
Well, we mainly want to educate people
about what manatees are doing and how to protect them--
how to actually live and coexist with them.
So there's a lot that goes along with that.
Mainly from environmental education to children,
and then also adults, that come to visit this incredible place
to swim with manatees.
So before people swim with manatees,
we want to make sure that people understand the rules
and behave responsibly.
Sure, sure.
Now you get to work with these manatees all the time.
Just how big are these guys?
Well, 13 feet long.
And to just give you perspective on how big that
is, if you look at a basketball hoop,
it will be 3 feet, even taller, than a basketball
hoop from the floor.
So pretty big.
Wow.
And now, these manatees are an endangered species.
Why is it that they're endangered?
What's going on?
Well, unfortunately, manatees actually live in the same place
where boaters roam-- at the same traffic areas
where a lot of boaters are speeding.
And a lot of manatees then, unfortunately,
get hit by boats.
But that is not the main reason.
The main reason is actually cold stress.
Manatees need thermal areas to survive the winters.
It gets pretty cold in Florida, so it's not
the Sunshine State all year round.
So manatees must seek a spring area,
and sometimes they don't get there in time
to where the springs are.
And where I work is where the springs are.
That's where they winter-- where they spend the winter.
So a lot of them-- they suffer hypothermia,
and they get too cold, and they unfortunately-- some of them
die.
Oh, that's too bad.
Just how many are left right now?
Well, great numbers.
Over 4,000 manatees.
20 years ago, we had just above 2,000.
So the population has doubled in 20 years.
Wow, that's great to hear.
So you're working with these manatees.
What are you doing in your job to help protect these manatees?
Well, we do manatee rescues.
I do a lot of education.
I put together materials for children, and also for adults,
to learn about them.
And I'm currently actually working on these four videos,
so that people understand what to do before they enter
the water to see these species-- to observe
these species in the water.
And those four videos-- there's one for swimmers,
so that swimmers know how to behave when they're swimming.
Another one is for boaters, so that boaters
can boat responsibly and not hit a manatee.
The other one is for paddlers.
Paddling, such as kayaks, paddleboards, and canoes,
can disturb manatees quite easily.
So we teach them how to paddle properly,
and what to look for-- what size of manatees.
And the fourth one is for photographers
and videographers, so that those photographers and videographers
don't get too close and disturb them
when they're resting and sleeping, or feeding.
OK.
And then I had another question for you.
And that is-- you guys have installed
a webcam above the water.
Tell me about that webcam and how
that's helping educate the public.
Well, the webcam is a fantastic tool--
not just for us, but also for visitors.
We place it right above where manatees rest,
and sometimes we have over 200 in this one little
confined area.
And the webcam films, constantly, 24/7-- 24 hours,
seven days a week.
And then also, the general public can get on this webcam
and view these manatees remotely from home,
to see what manatees actually are
doing on their day-to-day basis.
So it's a fun tool for families across the nation
to see and enjoy what manatees do.
Ivan, thank you so much for being with us today.
To learn more about these amazing creatures,
and to be able to watch them live,
right from your own computers, just again visit that website
on the screen from Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge.
There are so many more amazing facts, and ways
that you guys can even help.
So go be scientists, and enjoy observing
these magnificent creatures.
We'll see you next time on The US Fish and Wildlife Service's
Conservation Connect.
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