the data gathered since has proven the animals spotted
around Mobile Bay and its estuaries came there with a
purpose.
“During the peak of the season we maybe have at least two
dozen animals in alabama waters,” she said. “the number
that pass through are likely many, many more than that.”
“at one time, people thought the sightings to the west of
Florida were accidental,” Carmichael said. “i think the big
take-home message, and the biggest fact we’ve discovered
with our program, is that not only is it not accidental but
that some are regular visitors. and we have some animals
that come back year after year.”
there have been four tagging events since 2009 with 13
animals captured. twelve of those were tagged, although
two of those animals were tagged twice.
Carmichael said there is one very large female that visits
Mobile Bay on a regular basis. that animal has spent five
of the past seven summers in alabama. She said some
animals that the project follows will go to Florida in the
winter. as soon as the temperature warms up, they come
back and stay in alabama until it gets too cold.
“that raises the question of what’s home,” she said. “For
some of these animals, is home where you go to spend the
winter or where you spend the bulk of the rest of the year?
the northern Gulf may be more of a home. at the least, we
are part of their home range.
“the important thing a lot of people don’t realize is that
we have fossil records of manatees in the northern Gulf.
What i think is when populations declined that the population was so small there was no need or motivation to
leave Florida. as recovery has been successful in Florida,
i think we’re seeing range expansion, or more accurately
range re-expansion. now there are enough animals that it
is worth their while to come back and re-occupy areas suitable to them. We’re not increasing habitat, so we’re trying
to recover with static habitat resources. So they have to go
somewhere, a lot of times to places they had previously
occupied.”
Carmichael said the timing of the Manatee Project couldn’t
have come at a more appropriate time.
“We could be looking at a substantial range re-expansion
and re-occupation,” she said. “and i think we have, and
probably by luck, captured the beginnings of the tipping
point where we may see more animals come here and stay
longer. and it may become very clear that not only is this
part of their home range but our area will be increasingly
occupied. But that remains to be seen. You can ask me
again in a few years.”
in terms of numbers of manatees that can be found in
alabama waters at any time during warmer weather,
Carmichael said that is hard to pinpoint.
“that’s a tough question,” she said. “there are certain
things we can prove. and there are certain things we can
guesstimate. We have certain sightings of groups of animals in one area. then we have sightings of individuals.”
What makes it difficult, according to Carmichael, is some
animals are coming to Mobile Bay to spend the summer,
while others just spend some time in Mobile Bay on their
way to other areas.
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During last week’s tagging effort, two younger males were
netted and carefully hauled aboard Sea World’s specially
equipped boat with a removable transom. Carmichael
said one animal was estimated at 1,200 pounds, while the
second was about 1,400 pounds. She said determining the
age of a manatee is difficult once it passes a certain age.
“We can tell somewhat by how clean they are,” she said.
“these animals were very clean with not a lot of scars or
marks, which means they are probably younger.”
For someone observing their first manatee capture, it
appeared to be a difficult task, especially when the animal’s paddle-shaped tail (fluke) came in contact with the
researchers and interns attempting to load the animal in
the boat. However, Carmichael said that was not unusual.
“Both captures went pretty smoothly,” she said. “it’s like
catching a really big fish. think of the biggest fish you ever
caught (100-pound yellowfin tuna) and multiply that by 10.
Sometimes it’s difficult to get them in the boat. the fact we
were able to do it as quickly as we did is a testament to the
skill of the folks involved in the capture. But every single
event is different.”