Manatee sightings increasing along Alabama's coast (Press-Register)

[eppur_se_muova]

Wednesday, May 30, 2007
By BEN RAINES
Staff Reporter

They have been reported by water-skiers in Fish River and bass fishermen casting spinner baits at lily pad beds deep in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta.

Manatee sightings in Alabama's coastal waters have been on the rise for the last five years, evidence of an apparent expansion of the endangered animal's range.

But due to the haphazard nature of the sightings being reported, scientists have so far been unable to figure out how many of the huge vegetarians are spending their summers in Alabama.

Hoping to turn the sightings made by the public into useful scientific information, the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, in conjunction with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, has established a manatee reporting program with a toll free phone number and a Web site that will accept photos and descriptions of where the animals were seen.

"We're involved because the manatee is a listed species in Alabama. It is endangered. We're interested because we don't know where they go in Alabama, where they stay," said Dianne Ingram, a Fish & Wildlife biologist in the Daphne field office. "We've been trying to track them for a few years, but it's difficult to keep up with them, especially with so many anecdotal reports."
***
more: http://www.al.com/news/press-register/index.ssf?/base/news/1180517332143650.xml&coll=3&thispage=2