Brooks' Field Notes
8/5/04:
4/20/04:
Pictures of Brooks in a mating herd
Brooks had
a very predictable schedule during March through last week.
He had been noted resting in Homestead Bayfront Park’s boat basin until
around 2:30ish and then would move out onto the grass flats and begin feeding.
Around nightfall, he would move back into the basin and according to
ARGOS, back out onto the grass flats sometime during the night, returning to the
basin during the early morning.
On Thursday 4/15, Brooks moved north to Blackpoint and was observed
“actively” participating in a cavorting/mating herd.
He was seen pushing and shoving like the best of males (so proud of
him—sniff, sniff). For
the next couple of days, he was very active.
Brooks traveled to Homestead on Friday, Blackpoint Friday night, Deering
Estate Saturday morning and then he finally settled down in the Blackpoint area
Saturday evening.
Brooks was
captured Tuesday 4/20 for his one year health assessment at Blackpoint.
To make a very LONGGGGG day short, we made eleven sets before we finally
caught him (that would be four more than his six month assessment).
He had great capture boat avoidance and has earned his black belt at
working the lead lines.
First set 10:27, captured 15:52, release 16:45.
Basically, he tired out before the capture crew did.
Blood,
morphometrics, ultrasound and weight were obtained.
Dr. Scott Gearhart from SeaWorld gave Brooks an overall condition of
good. He gained
15 lbs since his last assessment (2%) and looked good.
Nice ROUND belly! Brooks has completed his year of tracking and his
release is considered to be a success. His equipment was cut off and he is a
wild manatee again!
12/29/03:
Brooks moved south of the Deering Estate area
to Homestead Bayfront Park in the beginning of December. He was seen
periodically with one to two animals on and off for the first week in their boat
basin but then moved closer to Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant in the middle of
the month. Our friends at Biscayne National Park came through for us again
and provided us with marked transportation into the power plants restricted
area. Thanks again guys, we really appreciate your help!
Just before Christmas, Brooks moved south of the nuclear plant's outflow canal.
This area has been extremely difficult to obtain visuals in based on the
security issues and remote location. Via boat we were not able to obtain
access to Brooks' location last week because the canal was not navigable by
water. Land access was restricted so we called it a day. The canal
that Brooks has been in has a warm water source (currently source unknown) which
seems to maintain the water temperature around 24 degrees Celsius. There
is supposedly no warm water spillage from the power plant's canal into this
canal and no fresh water upwellings are known. So Brooks has found himself
a nice warm place, with other animals and plenty of seagrass to feed on just
south of the canal's entrance. We are currently trying to obtain clearance
to this canal on a routine basis. We have only been able to get one good
boat look at Brooks over this past month and he appears to look good from the
surface. Swimming has not been permitted because he has been in the power
plant restricted area during our visuals and his current area has a high count
of crocodiles.
11/17/03:
Brooks has been primarily using the area between Blackpoint and Deering Bay. We have been working at getting more visuals of him feeding but have had only one successful observation. He seems to have a definitive pattern of resting throughout the day, traveling out onto the flats in the late afternoon. We have also been able to establish that he periodically finds a freshwater source early in the morning just before he begins to rest around 8am. He has been observed resting alone or with other animals in Deering Estate's boat basin. I was able to get a close underwater look at Brooks on 11/14 and noted that he has lost mass since last seen underwater about a month ago. He is lean but does not appear to have any emaciated signs at this time, just thinner than last observed. On a more positive note, flagellants were seen during this observation period. We will continue to monitor Brooks closely for any behavior changes or any decline in body condition that would be of concern. At this time though, we are planning to conduct an additional assessment at the 9 month mark, which would be in January to make sure he is in good condition prior to south Florida's cold winter season.
9/26/03:
It appears that Brooks' tag had some issues. Batteries stopped working and VHF signal is doing weird things too. But Brooks was relocated by Kit in the Cutler Ridge area. Kit, James and Penny took Penny's boat out yesterday to change out his tag. The weather nor Brooks cooperated so James and Kit went back out today and were able to complete the tag exchange (YEAH)!!!
9/18/03:
Brooks traveled primarily between Blackpoint Marina and Deering Estate but took one trip south to Little Card Sound and most recently a trip north to Port Everglades-Oceanside. Brooks has been observed cavorting with up to seven other animals at Blackpoint and he has even been observed bottom resting in the shade under their bridge. He traveled north into the canals just south of Snapper Creek and was observed socializing and feeding with a mother/calf pair on 8/14. Brooks traveled south to Homestead on 8/31 and was plotting out in Little Card Sound on 9/1. He quickly made his way north and was found bottom resting in Gould's Canal on 9/3 with three other animals. An underwater observation of Brooks was also obtained on 9/3. His tail mutilations appeared to be healing quickly and his abdomen was not flat or concaved inward. Brooks became very alert soon after my first approach but quickly turned his attention to the other two animals that had begun circling us. I took that opportunity to leave without invoking his attention any further. On 9/9, Brooks was observed bottom resting in Deering Bay in the exact same spot he spent so much time resting in last year before he was brought back into captivity. A big move began on 9/15…Brooks traveled northward to an area just south of Oleta River (North Miami). A tagged manatee was reported seen by a DEP law enforcement officer just south of Port Everglades' southern Oceanside jetty on 9/16 in the late afternoon. The officer did not see any other manatees nearby. Brooks had moved south by 9/17 and was observed in Little Arch Creek (North Miami) alone, bottom resting and milling all over the creek. ARGOS locations indicated he was on the move again today traveling south and plotted out just off downtown Miami.
9/1/03:
Brooks
moved south to Homestead on Sunday and today he is even further south. He
is now plotting out in Little Card Sound - one causeway away from being in the
Keys area. Brooks has been with other animals on a routine bases so we are
assuming he followed someone to this new area since he did the trip in such a
short time period.
8/4/03:
Brooks had an encounter with a boat sometime between 7/24 and 7/30. He now has minor mutilation cuts of his tail. Nothing serious but definitely a learning experience for him. Interestingly, his activity decreased dramatically during that week and even had us wondering a bit. Tag locations/activity and public visual reports had placed Brooks in Deering Estate's boat basin at all hours of the day and night. Once I saw the new scars it all made sense. He has become active again though. He became traveling back and forth between Blackpoint and Deering Estate on 8/1 and was even with eight animals on 8/2.
7/28/03:
Brooks has been observed primarily in the
Blackpoint area over the past month. While at Blackpoint, he has had a
very nice pattern...over grass flats until approximately in the morning and then
into the marina or Goulds canal to bottom rest. He becomes active and
usually is socializing with other animals (observed numbers 2-12 animals) later
in the day. Brooks has been traveling back and forth between Blackpoint
and Deering Estate since 7/16. He has been observed alone or with one
other animal while at Deering Estate. He is usually observed resting but
also has been observed feeding on floating mats of vegetation that get blown
into the boat basin. A big thanks to Kit Curtin (SMC) for helping
maintain the two visuals per week for Brooks through all my retagging adventures
and most recent vacation time.
5/6/03:
Brooks was seen feeding in a known
feeding spot southeast of Blackpoint with one other animal on 4/30!
4/24/03:
Brooks has traveled over 35
miles from Blackpoint north to Deering Bay, south to Homestead Bayfront Marina
and then north to Blackpoint/Goulds canal.
He also did one additional trip south to Homestead Bayfront Marina and
then back to Goulds canal.
Brooks was released on 4/1
into the Blackpoint manatee sanctuary. There were 15 other manatees in the
sanctuary and Brooks quickly began to socialize with a few of them upon release.
Brooks was noted socializing and even cavorting with over eight animals during a
2 1/2 hour observation period. A large mass of floating vegetation had
drifted into the sanctuary around 1330. Four animals quickly began to feed
on the floating patch. After circling these animals for approximately five
minutes, Brooks pushed his way to the vegetation and was observed mouthing and
eventually chewing at the patch for approximately six minutes (yeah!!!).
Brooks moved north to Deering Bay Estate on 4/3. On 4/6, he was observed alone milling around Deering Bay (second place we rescued him from last year). Brooks then moved south to Deering Bay Estate and was seen by staff with several other manatees in their boat basin. On 4/10, he had moved to the Blackpoint area and on 4/11 he was observed in Homestead Bayfront Marina cavorting with a large female. Brooks moved north on 4/14 and was seen with six animals at Blackpoint’s flood structure. He was observed cavorting with a mother/calf pair and showing dive behavior that might have indicated he was drinking water from the bottom of the flood structure. Brooks was observed by residents just south of Blackpoint at the Goulds’ flood structure. Unfortunately, it has been reported that he has been receiving food “hand outs” at this location. Brooks was observed on 4/17 with three other animals in the Goulds Canal focusing the majority of his cavorting behavior on one particular male. Brooks was observed alone by residence at Goulds’ flood structure on 4/20. On 4/21 around 2050, Brooks was observed traveling out of Goulds canal going out to the grass flats (yeah).
4/13/03
Brooks
After spending almost a year at SeaWorld when he was brought back into the facility last spring, Brooks was released again!
Brooks was
released today around 1230 into the Blackpoint manatee sanctuary. There
were 15 other manatees in the sanctuary and Brooks quickly began to socialize
with a few of them upon release. Brooks was noted socializing and even
cavorting with over eight animals during a 2 1/2 hour observation period.
A large mass of floating vegetation drifted into the sanctuary around 1330.
Four animals quickly began to feed on the floating patch. After circling
these animals for approximately five minutes, Brooks pushed his way to the
vegetation and was observed mouthing and eventually chewing at the patch for
approximately six minutes (yea!!).
7/10/02-7/31/02
Brooks has continued to improve and gain weight at SeaWorld of Florida.
6/1/02-6/18/02
Brooks
Brooks’ condition has been improving at SeaWorld. Per Dr. Scott Gearhart, Brooks is now eating on his own. His blood work has started to look better and he is no longer receiving antibiotics. Brooks will be receiving a physical exam today, so lets hope his condition continues to improve.
5/14/02-5/30/02
Brooks
Brooks’
blood and assessment results from capture 5/13/02 per Dr. Andy Stamper:
Physical
exam: Animal’s body condition was
fair. No abnormalities or defects
noted. Animal had moderate
constipation with very hard feces. Stomach
contents contained mostly water and algae.
Feces very hard and appeared to consist of primarily algae.
Assessment:
Animal’s weight and body condition were fair and the animal appeared
slightly dehydrated by gross blood exam and evidence of constipation.
Overall the blood analysis indicated slight dehydration with an
inflammatory response.
Plan:
Animal was taken to Sea World for evaluation.
4/22/02-5/13/02
Brooks
Brooks continued to remain
in the Deering Bay – Cutler area over the past weeks. Brooks was observed bottom resting alone at the south
end of Deering Bay on 4/25 and 4/28. He
was again observed bottom resting alone on 4/30 from 1230 to 2030.
On 5/1 at 300 to 400 in the morning, he was in the same spot bottom
resting and from 730 to 1230 he was again observed to bottom resting.
Underwater visual observation was attempted on 5/1 and based on water
clarity a clear view of his belly was not feasible.
Ventral to dorsal outline view appeared lean to thin but not emaciated.
He did not have any apparent fat rolls but he also did not have a peanut
shaped head. Kit observed Brooks on
5/1 and 5/2 milling along the shoreline alone possibly eating algae from 2200 to
2300 in the evening. A health
assessment was requested to “play it safe” based on the following reasons:
There had been only two visual observations of Brooks possibly feeding
since his relocation; Visual and Argos locations placed him in areas where the
food source was only algae; His activity level had been minimal, primarily
bottom resting during visual observations which were conducted at different
hours of the day and night over the past few weeks. A capture team was assembled to try and catch Brooks on 5/6.
He was located on the day before the capture bottom resting at the south
end of Deering Bay. On 5/6, Brooks had moved into the Cutler canal milling alone
along the shoreline. The capture
team consisted of staff from SeaWorld, FWC and Wildlife Trust.
Unfortunately, boat trouble prevailed on the first day of capture and the
second day was unsuccessful because Brooks had moved into the intake canal of
the Cutler Power plant. This area
is restricted to boats and humans because of the fast water flow into the
intake. Brooks was observed bottom resting alone up against the
mangrove shoreline. Attempts were
made to encourage him to leave the area but the attempts were unsuccessful.
Brooks was observed bottom resting alone in the Cutler canal side of
Deering Bay at the boat ramp on 5/10.
He moved back into Deering Bay on 5/11 and was observed bottom resting
alone at the north end of Deering Bay on 5/12.
A second capture team was assembled consisting of staff from SeaWorld,
WDW Living Seas, FWC and Wildlife Trust. Brooks
was found bottom resting on 5/13 with one other animal at the south end of
Deering Bay. This was the first
time he had been seen with another animal since Myriah was in Deering Bay some
weeks ago. Brooks was captured on
the first boat set. Luckily for us,
the other animal found its way out of the net so we only had to pull Brooks into
the boat. Brooks received the usual
health assessment workup. Blood
was taken and the results are pending. DVM
Andy Stamper and DVM Don Neiffer noted that the blood was very dark, a possible
indication of dehydration. Blubber
values were also taken and there was not a huge change since his last capture on
3/21. Weight was measured at 655
lbs (weight on 3/21 was 735 lbs; weight at release date of 2/5 was 805 lbs).
Fecal sample was collected and consistency was very hard (another sign of
dehydration) with the no apparent signs of sea grass in the sample.
A stomach sample was also collected and the contents appeared to consist
of algae. DVM Andy Stamper and DVM
Don Neiffer were in contact via phone with DVM Scott Gearhart and the decision
was made to bring Brooks back into captivity based on his dehydration condition.
Brooks was removed from Deering Bay around 1600 on 5/13 and transported
to SeaWorld.
4/8/02-4/21/02
Brooks
Brooks has remained in the Deering Bay area over the past weeks. He has been sighted many times by residents and staff at the south and north end of the Bay. He has not been sighted with other animals but he seems to have a pattern of traveling to the south end of the Bay in the late afternoon and bottom resting at the north end in the morning to early afternoon. An underwater visual observation to assess overall body condition was attempted on 4/18 since it has been almost a month since his relocation. Unfortunately, he was not very cooperative. Brooks was curious about the snorkeler but upon approach to view his stomach, he would respond by rolling onto his side exposing only his back or by just swimming away. No apparent fat rolls were observed but his belt was not low on his tail and he did not appear to have a lean body condition or peanut shaped head. Overall from what I could tell, his body condition looked good but additional attempts will be made to observe his stomach over the next week. Good news though, where Brooks was seen on 4/18 was next to a freshwater upwelling. Very heavy flow so he definitely has access to a freshwater drinking source.
3/25/02-4/7/02
Brooks
Brooks remained in the Cutler canal system after his release on 3/21. He
was seen in the middle of the week with Myriah in Deering Bay. One other
animal was present during this observation period. He continued to move
back and forth between Deering Bay and the Cutler canal system. On 4/3,
Brooks was observed resting alone at the Cutler Power Plant discharge canal.
Less than 24 hours later, he had moved north into a canal system just
south of Snapper Creek. He was observed alone milling along the seawall
and diving down to the bottom. Brooks eventually traveled back to the
Cutler canal system later in the week.
3/11/02-3/24/02
Brooks was observed daily in the canal system off the Tamiami Trail in front of the first flood structure that lead into the Everglades from 3/11 to 3/24. The canal system west of Brooks’ location was not considered a good area for manatees due to historical data of entrapment/rescues and mortalities. Officials were contacted to prevent the flood structure from being opened until Brooks was out of the area. Hydrilla amounts available for consumption were not observed to change in quantity during the past weeks. Brooks was observed feeding only on several occasions. Feeding durations were approximately fifteen minutes and oil and gasoline products surrounded the surface hydrilla. A conference call was conducted between USFWS, FMRI, Kit and myself to review and determine if intervention was necessary. It was decided to see if he would leave the area on his own over the next week. If Brooks did not leave then herding methods to get him out of the system or capture for relocation would be an option. On 3/18, it was decided to relocate Brooks from the canal system off Tamiami Trail back to the Cutler Ridge canal system. This decision was made due to the low quantity/quality of food available, the lack of con-specifics in the area and down out right bad location with the potential of him moving further west past the flood structure. He was very imprinted on this area moving about 1/2 miles east one or two times a week but returning in pattern form to the same location each day. On 3/21 at 1115, Brooks was captured by staff from SeaWorld, FWC and Wildlife Trust using land set methods and released at the Deering Bay boat ramp within the Cutler Ridge canal system around 1400. His blubber, girths and body conditions were good. Fecal material was hard and contained monofilament line but not parasites were found. Blood work showed he was dehydrated, his creatinine was up to 3.1 and his total solids were also a bit elevated. Otherwise, his blood looked within normal limits. Fluids were administered per Dr. Beth Chittick from SeaWorld. After he was released, he milled around the boat ramp vicinity for approximately 20 minutes and then he began bottom resting in the middle of the boat ramp (this ramp is very quiet on the weekdays). Myriah was in the Cutler Ridge canal system upon Brooks’ release. Brooks remained in the Cutler canal system until 3/24 when he was observed in Deering Bay with Myriah.
2/24/02-3/10/02
Brooks
Brooks went through the flood structure at Snapper Creek either 2/23 or 2/24 when the gate was open due to excess amounts of rain in the area. This flood structure is used frequently by local manatees to maneuver through the canal systems of Miami. He moved eleven miles up the Snapper Creek canal system, got to Tamiami canal, went west two more miles and then north two miles up a canal off 137th Avenue. He remained in the 137th Avenue canal until 3/6 or 3/7. This canal did not contain much vegetation to feed off of and lets just say the fallen trees, old cars, couches and chairs in the water did not make up the best manatee habitat. Brooks’ tag was recovered in an area that contained a lot of fallen trees in a very shallow area. The tag was entangled around a fallen tree and the tether had broken in the proper spot at the weak link. We began our search for Brooks but were not hopeful that we would find him due to the water clarity being about zero. We search the two-mile canal off 137th Avenue without success. When we reached the Tamiami canal we noticed that there seemed to be a flow of the water, which suggested that the next flood structure might be open. We traveled to the next structure three miles west to request that the gate not be opened due to Brooks’ general location. There Brooks sat facing the closed structure – lucky find! A safety clip was attached to the small joiner using 5200 tag. On 3/9, a permanent clip with tag 1366 was attached to the small joiner and the safety clip was removed on 3/10. He showed curiosity during the retagging but not friendly enough to do a complete retagging with a new small joiner. His body condition looked good except he did have some superficial scratches along his right side of his face and a few down his body. These scratches were probably obtained from the tree trunks and branches during his exit from the tag entanglement. Food availability is higher in his new location but still not in excess. He was seen eating hydrilla from the banks for approximately 45 minutes on 3/10. The Tamiami canal is routinely sprayed to decrease the vegetation growth. The organization that conducts the spraying of this area has been contacted and they will not spray again until Brooks moves out of the area. So, that means he will have plenty of food soon, with the way hydrilla grows. He has not been seen with other animals since 2/23. Reports are that manatees do not frequent the current area he is in very often.