Tarpon Springs will post a sign at Spring Bayou urging manatee watchers not to feed the sea cows.
By NORA KOCH
Published September 9, 2004
TARPON SPRINGS - Don't throw your salad into Spring Bayou, please. Take it home for dinner.
That's a pressing request on behalf of the gentle sea cows from the Save the Manatee Club.
The statewide organization, responding to increased reports of what it describes as manatee harassment in the bayou, has asked Tarpon Springs to post an educational sign urging manatee watchers not to feed the mammals.
Although feeding, watering and other harassment isn't rampant at Spring Bayou, a popular winter manatee hangout, the Maitland club has received more reports of feeding and other verboten interaction, staff biologist Suzanne Tarr said.
"It's better to take care of it now," Tarr said. "People can see the signs, read the consequences, and say, "Oh, I didn't realize. . . . Let's put the lettuce back in the car and make a salad for dinner.' "
Tarr sent letters last month asking officials in three Tampa Bay communities to post signs warning people of the consequences of feeding the wild creatures. The sign has already been posted by Coffee Pot Bayou in St. Petersburg, and Tarr said she is waiting to hear back from officials at an apartment complex by Culbreath Bayou, near the Gandy Bridge in Tampa.
Tarpon Springs has long safeguarded the manatee, said police Capt. (and the city's lead manatee defender) Robert Kochen, and will look into working with the Save the Manatee Club to post their sign.
In 2000, the city turned Whitcomb Bayou into a seasonal, no-wake "Manatee Area" and posted manatee caution signs along Spring Bayou, which was already a year-round no-wake zone. Then in 2001, Spring Bayou was designated a manatee refuge, prohibiting boats in the area during manatee season except for specially designated events such as Epiphany.
So far, the city's efforts have been successful, said Kochen, who has heard no reports of manatee harassment or feeding.
"Basically, we balanced recreational needs in the city with the protection of the manatees," Kochen said, noting that Tarpon did not have a history of boat and manatee accidents but wanted to prevent the possibility.
And if people are feeding the manatees, Kochen said that is a problem.
"It's not natural for them to be totally dependent on humans," he said.
Agnes Leuenroth, a New York transplant who enjoys shooting photos of manatees frolicking at Spring Bayou, said she often sees cabbage, lettuce and carrots floating there. The Tarpon Springs resident said she has lightly scolded manatee feeders there a few times, and hopes an educational sign would put a stop to it.
"We told people, "Please don't do this because . . . that injures the animals,' " said Leuenroth, 55, who saw her first manatee about a year ago. She contacted the manatee club and asked them for help in stopping the feeding, she said.
"They're wild animals, and I think they should be left alone," she said.
Tarr said she has heard from other local residents, as well as the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which is concerned about feedings and harassment in the bayou. "There's a reason why our wildlife is best left wild."
The nonregulatory sign, which would be provided to the city by Tarr's group, shows a manatee and says: "If you love me, please don't feed or touch me." The sign goes on to list some consequences of manatee feeding. Those include the manatees losing their fear of humans and increasing the likelihood of boat-related injury.
"If manatees had claws like bears or teeth like alligators, we wouldn't have this problem," Tarr said. "People think it's kind of fun to feed them. Let's face it - manatees have a lot of threats to deal with, so we don't need to be adding any others."
