Scientists from Sarasota's Mote Marine Laboratory and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection will be conducting a 2-week study of the manatees in the Blue Water region of the Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, beginning this weekend. The scientists will be using a novel vantage point, a tethered airship, to measure manatee size classes, identify individual manatees from scars and marks, and to observe their behavior.
The 29 foot-long helium-filed airship, on loan from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, is tethered 150 feet above a 19 foot-long support vessel. Remote-controlled zoom-telephoto and wide angle cameras are suspended from the airship. The cameras are connected to the dual video recording systems on the anchored support vessel and provide excellent overhead viewing of the manatees without interfering with their normal behaviors. The researchers tested this system with manatees in Sarasota County last summer, before initiating the first phase of the current project in Lee County in January of this year. The research is funded through the Save the Manatee Trust Fund. A major portion of these funds comes from the sale of the Manatee specialty license plate and other voluntary contributions. |
