Button's Field Notes:

Pictures from Buttons' release on 4/2/04

Buttons was primarily in the Blackpoint area with a quick trip to the north part of Key Largo.  He was observed milling around Blackpoint boat basin under docked boats the day after his release on 3/4 mouthing the sandy bottom, rocks and bottom of boats.  Buttons was cavorting with up to eight animals in Blackpoint on 3/8 and bottom resting alone the next day.  He began to move south on 3/15 and was seen alone on 3/17 slowly traveling south of Moody Canal.  The next day he was heard just north of Homestead Bayfront Park.  For a little guy, Buttons began to travel quickly which suggested to us that he was following another manatee.  He was south of Turkey Point Power Plant on 3/19 and in the Little Card Sound area the next day.  He was reported traveling in and out of a canal in the Ocean Reef Club located in the northern portion of Key Largo. One week after Buttons began to use this canal, he somehow lodged his tag between two pilings under a dock.  Unfortunately, the belt broke at the weak link and currently he does not have any tracking equipment on him.  A press release was sent out and many of the residents and local boaters have been informed of our search to find Buttons for retagging.  Two sightings were reported, one in Blackpoint Marina and one in Marathon but both sightings were unconfirmed.  An aerial search was also conducted with the assistance of Dade County DERM and Miami-Dade Law Enforcement but the weather turned and conditions to continue the search were called off.  Another aerial search will hopefully be conducted in the near future.