The bright yellow signs, free to boaters, let those on the water know manatees are nearby.
By JUSTIN GEORGE
Published June 12, 2004
CRYSTAL RIVER - The Save the Manatee Club handed out large cautionary signs Friday that members hope will stop boaters from ramming into the endangered animals as the July 4 weekend approaches and a controversy lingers over holiday speed limits on Kings Bay.
The large yellow signs, which are plastic and can be rolled up and unfurled instantly, read "Please Slow - Manatee Below." They were given to boaters and dive shops for free and are available by contacting the club or Crystal River City Hall.
The signs, which the national nonprofit group hopes boaters use, are supposed to warn speeding boats to slow or move away from areas where manatees are congregating.
Group members hope to avoid another weekend like the past Memorial Day, when the bay was crowded with boats, speed limits were not suppressed like they historically have been on holidays and a boat struck and killed a manatee.
That incident was believed to have been filmed by a visiting Kissimmee family idling near a group of manatees who tried to wave and scream down the driver of a 21- to 23-foot powerboat believed to have run over the 462-pound female that was later found dead.
The boat's driver did not slow down, and Helen Spivey, co-chair of Save the Manatee Club's board of directors, said she thinks the person might have if the Kissimmee family used one of the club's signs.
"I was rather upset about the manatee that was killed Memorial Day weekend," Spivey said. "If it (a sign) had been in the boat, instead of just yelling and waving which didn't work, they could have held up this big yellow sign and we wouldn't have a dead manatee."
Generally, only 15 manatees are thought to be living in Kings Bay.
The killing irked local dive shops, environmentalists and local officials more than usual, because it was the first time in years the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission did not reduce the speed limits on the bay during the holiday from 25 mph or more to idle speed.
The state agency had been doing that every Memorial, Labor and Independence day, but said it was facing budget problems this year and had asked the city of Crystal River to post the signs and pass an ordinance making them enforceable. Most city officials, however, said that's the state's or even Citrus County's responsibility.
"We had the same thing happen in Fort Myers when it came to slow speed zones, and FWCC said the same thing," Spivey said. "They couldn't enforce it until the county passed a law, and the county said they couldn't do it unless Fish and Wildlife did something, and it was a buck passing game - just with manatees."
It doesn't appear speeds will be lowered for July 4, given the stance Fish and Wildlife has taken and because the Crystal River City Council will not discuss the issue until July 28.
"At this point," said City Council member Susan Kirk, who supports the city taking responsibility, "I really don't know."
"Unless the city does something overnight, I know that we are not going to post the signs," said Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Karen Parker, stressing that her agency will, however, still heavily enforce rules on the bay. "We're going to hash this out. Basically, the county or the city needs to pass an ordinance."
In the meantime, the Save the Manatee Club hopes its signs are a "stop gap" deterrent, Spivey said, which could save the lives of more manatees, which are becoming rarer.
Earlier this week, the decomposing body of an 11-foot, 1,300-pound female manatee was found in a residential canal in Ozello. A necropsy showed the animal died naturally from infection caused by birth complications, said Tom Pitchford, wildlife biologist at the Marine Mammal Pathology Laboratory of the Florida Marine Research Institute in St. Petersburg.
The "Please Slow - Manatees Below" signs are available by e-mailing education@savethemanatee.org or by visiting Crystal River City Hall, local dive shops or boat rental businesses.
