Who doesn’t love a manatee? Even when we’re frustrated with all the low-speed manatee zones in Florida, it’s still hard to bear any ill-will to these smile-inducing, half-ton creatures. They’re just big and slow and somehow endearing; children want to hug them.
And manatees, at least some of them, migrate, swimming along the northern Gulf Coast from Florida in the summer, traveling as far as Louisiana. Now boaters in the coastal southern part of Louisiana are reporting manatee sightings in places where they haven’t been seen in years, and the state is issuing warnings to protect them.
The West Indian manatee is a federally protected species. It’s against the law to touch them or harm them. One problem is that manatees, whether in Florida or Louisiana, are inherently curious, and they can try to get close to a boat. The state of Louisiana is advising boaters that if they see a manatee near them they should put the boat in idle and disengage the props until the animal is out of harm’s way.
Manatees graze on aquatic plants and need warm water to survive; they don’t like water below 68 degrees for long periods of time. They are expected to begin their roundtrip back to Florida in the fall.
Meanwhile, the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries authorities have set up 24- hotline for manatee sightings: 1 800 442-2511. Read more:
http://www.houmatoday.com/news/20180825/have-you-seen-one-of-these
