Abstract:
The purpose of this report was to develop a position paper on manatee acoustics and the manatee-watercraft issues. The paper concludes that manatees in Florida appear, under many circumstances to hear motorboats, but they may respond at times by seeking deep water in channels, thereby placing themselves at times at greater risk than if they had stayed in shallow water. The attempt has been made to give manatees the best chance both of avoiding a collision in the first place and surviving a collision if it does occur. The use of acoustic alarms has been offered as a mitigation measure, but uncertainties exist regarding the efficacy of alarms to protect manatees, and widespread use may harass other species in the coastal environment. Furthermore, use of acoustic alarms for manatee protection will do nothing to reduce human deaths and injuries or other effects of boating in Florida. However, the continued expansion of boat speed regulatory zones and of manatee sanctuaries in perpetuity is unlikely to happen in Florida. It states that the goal will be to create better balance between manatees' and other species' well-being and the ability of human users to enjoy many of the privileges to which they are accustomed to. That goal will be reached by maintaining some of the existing management approaches, by carefully incorporating innovative technological advances, by better understanding what manatees perceive and how they react, and, most of all, by working together rather than at cross-purposes.
