Manatee photo ID survey

Survey field notes: 7/8/2016 

Another manatee photo id survey was conducted at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute @ FAU at 1:45 pm – 2:20pm on July 8, 2016 with clear, sunny skies. One cow/calf pair was spotted in the channel. The pair were traveling along the seawall while nursing. They slowly crossed the channel into the shaded areas over by the submersible garage ramp.

No other animals were observed today. None were needed because there is nothing better than seeing a baby marine mammal. Here are the pictures to prove it! There is also a detail shot of the mother's tale fluke for identification purposes.

Manatee Photo ID survey

The Manatee Research team at FAU’s Harbor Branch campus regularly conducts photo id/surveys on Florida manatee that frequent campus. The Harbor Branch channel plays a vital role as a thermal refuge, with >100 manatees congregated in the basin during recent winter cold fronts. The goal of this research is to develop an integrated system using existing (photo-identification) and new (remote sensing) techniques to continuously monitor manatee behavior and habitat.

For the next two weeks, the library’s staff science guy (or gal) will be conducting these surveys and posting about it here. You can also find the HBOI research team on facebook here. Find them and follow, so you can keep updated on all things manatee!

Survey field notes: 7/6/2016

The survey was conducted on July 6, 2016 from 2:00 pm – 2:30pm. One adult manatee was present in the HBOI channel [located close to the small boat marina at a day dock area]. The manatee was observed surface resting, with very little activity. Breaths were taken every few minutes; with little movement, most of the body of the manatee was submerged. No manatee were spotted in the second survey location.

Here are the photos.

What’s the deal with the algae all over the manatee? Here are some peer reviewed articles on the topic.

Interactions between non-native armored suckermouth catfish (Loricariidae: Pterygoplichthys) and native Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) in artesian springs Leo G. Nico1*, William F. Loftus2 and James P. Reid1 1 U.S. Geological Survey, 7920 NW 71st Street, Gainesville, Florida 32653 USA 2 Aquatic Research & Communication, LLC, 1759 NW 20th St., Homestead, FL 33030 USA E-mail: LNico@usgs.gov (LGN), arc_wfl@bellsouth.net (WFL) * Corresponding author

The tanaid Hexapleomera robusta (Crustacea: Peracarida) from the Caribbean manatee, with comments on other crustacean epibionts. Benjamín Morales-Velaa1, Eduardo Suárez-Moralesa1 c1, Janneth Padilla-Saldívara1 and Richard W. Hearda. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the UK / Volume 88 / Issue 03 / May 2008, pp 591-596

A COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTION TO THE BIOFOULING PROBLEM FOR THE ENDANGERED FLORIDA MANATEE AND OTHER SPECIES BY KATHLEEN D. OPPENHEIMER* AND TODD K. BENDOR. TOJCI.OPPENHEIMER.DOC

Here is some internet stuff on the topic:

The Benefits Of Having Stuff Grow All Over You. Cameron McCormick, 2009.

Research Field Notes: No. 3

6/04/2014 Dolphin Boat Survey

Due to conditions out on the open ocean; the morning survey did not take place. Conditions did not improve for the afternoon; however we had received several reports of dolphin sightings in the Lake Worth Lagoon (26°40′53″N 80°02′45″W) over the past several days, so we decided to head down to the area travelling in the intracoastal waterways. We were not successful in sighting any dolphins. The research team spent the first part of the day in the office doing data analysis.

Conditions: Seas 3-5 feet. Winds E/SE 10 knots

Duration: 12:00pm – 5:00pm

Research Organization: Taras Oceanographic Foundation

Recorded dolphin photo ID: zero encounters on this trip.

 

Other: Behind the scenes. The boat survey is only a small portion of the work that is needed to be done for photo ID and habitat utilization studies. Each trip can produce a few hundred to even a thousand images. Once the team heads back to the office, the photos need to be downloaded, sorted and compared. The best images of each animal are organized into their own file. This step is the most labor intensive. Illustrated by the fact that the researcher has to figure out which images are of one animal [this is done from comparing distinct dorsal fin markings]; how many times you have seen each animal; and compare it to the existing ID catalog.

They are several ways of organizing these ID photos and each researcher develops their own system. There are however universal ID methods and protocol that are utilized. These processes take countless hours. There is also GIS mapping data; habitat and COA (coefficient of association) data files, etc. that need organized and analyzed depending on what the research team is investigating.

Students doing field work or internships soon learn the field part is actually a very small portion of the entire research process.