Manatee Awareness Month

FWC celebrates November as Manatee Awareness Month. Here are a few helpful tips to help protect one of our most beloved marine mammals: 

• Wear polarized sunglasses to spot them moving, grazing and resting in the water. Keep a lookout for the circular “footprints” or ripples they leave on the surface of the water.
• Observe manatees from a distance to limit disturbance. Disturbing manatees at their warm-water sites may cause them to leave these areas during the winter.
• Report injured, entangled, orphaned or dead manatees to the FWC’s Wildlife Alert Hotline: 888-404-FWCC (3922), #FWC or *FWC on your cellphone or text Tip@MyFWC.com.
• Contribute to the Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida’s Marine Mammal Fund  by visiting WildlifeFlorida.org and clicking on “Support Us,” “Funding Priorities” and “Marine Mammal Fund.”
• When you purchase a Florida manatee license plate all proceeds go directly to funding FWC manatee research, rescue and conservation efforts around the state. 

New on MyFWC.com/Research

• Stone Crab Catch Data
• Red Tide Current Status 
• Red Tide-Related Hotlines and Information Sources
• Marine Mammal Publications 
• Red Tide Manatee Mortalities 
• 2018 Manatee Mortalities 
• Internship Opportunities 
• Index Nesting Beach Survey Totals (1989-2018)
• Seagrass Recovery Potential Model: Information and Model Layers 
• Trends in Nesting by Florida Loggerheads
• Florida Manatee Rescue, Rehabilitation and Release Reimbursement
• Training Materials for the Nesting Beach Survey Workshops

Social Media Corner

 New on YouTube:

FWRI Fish & Wildlife Health biologist explains three ways you can report observed fish kills to FWC's Fish Kill Hotline. 

 Flickr Favorite:

Harlequin darters were recently removed from the Imperiled Species List in Florida, thanks to the hard work of FWC staff. This photo was captured thanks to a snorkel survey.

 From Facebook:

FWC  freshwater mussel researchers recently observed a seldom seen stage of  a mussel's life cycle. Seen here is the larvae of the southern sandshell mussel.