Gene's Field  Notes

2/25/07:

Moved in/out of Blue Spring for first two days after release.  On Friday, 2/23 he had traveled about five miles north to the Mud Lake area.  By Saturday 2/24, he was approximately twenty miles away from Blue Spring and was in Lake Woodruff.  Sunday Gene was just west in Lake Dexter.  Great feeding area and where we have seen some the big boys/girls hang out.

5/07/07:

On 4/16, Gene was in Norris Dead Lake just below Blue Petter Lake with 5 other manatees, traveling south at a good pace.  They may have been feeding but, due to strong wind conditions, it wasn’t possible to determine if any of the grass movement was feeding.  

6/14/07:

On May 18, Gene was found, w/ tag attached, in Lake Dexter . He was with at least 3 adults and one calf, mostly milling and socializing.  He went out into the river and milled for a short time until an alligator struck at his tag.   He took the tag under and when it came back to the surface the gator came for it again.   Gene took the tag back under the water again and he was found midway into the Stagger Mud Lake .  He was with at least 4 others plus one calf.   Again, milling and socializing.  Saw him munching on something at one point, possibly coon tail or hydrilla.   While anchored, he came within 25' of the boat for a short time. He seemed to be doing fine.  When he was left at 1200 hrs, he was bottom resting in the middle of Mud Lake cove.  

On May 23, Gene was located on the east side of Lake Woodruff .  He was milling with 3 other animals and cautiously approached the anchored boat numerous times.  Unfortunately, the trackers were unable to get a good view of his back, including his healed white prop scars or any potential new scars.  His behavior did not appear out of the ordinary. 

6/21/07:

Gene made a 60+ mile move north from Lake Dexter to Crescent Lake on 6/11/07.  He appeared by GPS to have explored the entire lake and was beginning to travel out when we stopped receiving transmissions from his tag.  We are anticipating it was bit by a gator since that was the area two years ago Snorty had his tag cracked in half by a gator.  Kat Frisch from FWC will be flying on Sunday if air clearance for the area is obtained.  The search route contains no-fly military restricted zones for which Kat has made requests for clearance and is awaiting approval.   She will be listening for both Gene's belt and tag VHF signal from Lake Dexter to just north of Green Cove Springs.  It always seems like when an animal makes a big move to a new area and we no longer have an established movement pattern for them, we either have tags stop working or de-attach.

6/27/07:

I am sorry to report we recovered Gene's belt, tether and tag yesterday from the northwest side of Crescent Lake. 
 
Kat Frisch (FWC) flew for Gene on Sunday and heard a series of five beeps only once from Gene's tag around the north area of Crescent Lake.  She did not pick up any signal from his belt.  Unfortunately, we had truck tire issues on Sunday and extreme trailer issues on Monday and were not able to get to the area immediately as planned.  Andy Garrett (FWC) allowed us to borrow his boat and was kind enough to met us in Palatka on Tuesday.  Once on Crescent Lake, we were able to pick up Gene's belt almost a mile away from recovery location. Though the tag could only be heard within close proximity to the same location.  The equipment was recovered about four feet from shore behind trees in a small one foot deep bog hole.  A nice little gator nook.  The belt slipped off or was pulled off of Gene's tail from what appears to have been an extreme gator bite to the tag.  What was left of the float ring was damaged and pulled to the top of the canister and the antenna was broken off at the base.  No boat strike damage to the tag could be found. There were a lot of gator bites on the tag and oddly there were lined teeth marks on the VHF portion of the belt...something never seen before.  Upon analysis of the GPS data, it appears the tag came off around 6/13 at 1830.  Dive duration and activity counts fluctuated from zero to hundreds between 6/14 to 6/25 indicating something had the tag from time to time.  So all the damage to the equipment may not be just from tag loss incident but the canister damage had to have had stationary force to allow it to be pulled and lodged the way it was recovered.  Why Kat was not able to hear the belt and only heard one series of beeps was odd.  You can normally hear VHF signals when under trees or in shallow freshwater from the air without difficulty.  But if the equipment was under debris and underwater, then the signal would have been blocked.  So I am thinking the equipment was in a gator's hole on Sunday and pulled out between the time Kat flew and when we arrived. 
 
Unfortunately at this point, I do not see us being able to relocate Gene until he shows up at a warm water site this winter.  He does have very distinct identifiable scars so there is a chance someone might spot him before hand. I have forwarded a couple pictures as reference for those that are out in the field to keep a look out.  But I do feel really good about his most recent move and his activity since release on 2/20/07.  His recent move was fast and directed indicating he was with other animals.  He explored Crescent Lake and used the perimeter just like Snorty did some years back.  Gene has been seen during almost every observation visual with other animals and in great feeding locations.  He basically has been mimicking wild manatee behavior since release and we couldn't have asked him to be in any better shape behaviorally than what he has shown us thus far.  Ok, we could have kept his tag away from gators a bit more :)

9/18/07:

6/11/07 – 6/27/07

Gene made a 60+ mile move north from Lake Dexter into Crescent Lake on 6/11/07 .  He appeared by GPS to have explored the entire lake and was beginning to travel out when we stopped receiving transmissions from his tag.  We were anticipating it had been bitten by a gator since that was the same area where, two years earlier, Snorty had his tag cracked in half by a gator bite.  

On 6/27/07 , we recovered Gene's belt, tether and tag.  Kat Frisch ( FWC ) flew for Gene on Sunday and heard a series of five beeps only once from Gene's tag, but did not pick up any signal from his belt.  By boat, we were able to pick up Gene's belt almost a mile away from the recovery location and the tag could only be heard within close proximity to the same location.  The equipment was recovered about four feet from shore behind trees in a small one foot deep bog hole -- a nice little gator nook.  The belt slipped or was pulled off of Gene's tail from what appears to have been an extreme gator bite to the tag.  What was left of the float ring was damaged and pulled to the top of the canister and the antenna was broken off at the base.  No boat strike damage to the tag could be found. There were a lot of gator bites on the tag and oddly there were lined teeth marks on the VHF portion of the belt...something never seen before.  Upon analysis of the GPS data, it appears the tag came off around 6/13 at 1830.  Dive duration and activity counts fluctuated from zero to hundreds between 6/14 to 6/25 indicating something had the tag from time to time.  So all the damage to the equipment may not have been from tag loss incident -- the canister damage had to have stationary force to allow it to be pulled and lodged the way it was recovered.  Why Kat was not able to hear the belt and only heard one series of beeps was odd. But if the equipment was under debris and underwater, then the signal would have been blocked.  Possibly the equipment was in a gator's hole on Sunday and pulled out between the time Kat flew and when we arrived. 

It’s unlikely that Gene will be relocated until he shows up at a warm water site this winter.  With his very distinct identifiable scars, there is a chance he might be spotted.  His recent move and activity since release on 2/20/07  are positive indicators.  His move was fast and directed, indicating he was with other animals. During almost every observation visual, he’s been with other animals and in great feeding locations.  He basically has been mimicking wild manatee behavior since release.  We couldn't ask him to be in better shape behaviorally than what he has shown thus far.