Myriah's Field Notes

11/20/02

Myriah no longer has a tag attached to her belt and tether and scientists are asking for your help in locating her. She was last seen near Everglades City but it is impossible to say where she is currently located.  If you see a tagged or belted manatee, please call FWC Law Enforcement immediately toll free at: 1-888-404-FWCC to report the  location of the animal.  

 

10/08/02 – 10/28/02 from Monica Ross, Wildlife Trust – Conservation Biologist  

Pictures from her health assessment:

Getting weighed

Exam on the boat

Myriah

Myriah was reported by a public visual in the Everglades National Park Service Flamingo boat basin with two other animals on 10/7.  She was again reported in the basin with one animal on 10/9.  Wildlife Trust (WT) observed Myriah the following day with four animals.  She was observed drinking freshwater, eating seagrass, surface resting and even socializing with other animals.  One animal that she was in close proximity to for the entire visual was the same male she had been documented with in Upper Matecumbe Key on 9/30.  This documentation helps supports the theory that Myriah’s direct line of movement across Florida Bay was with another animal.  It also documents another route that wild manatees might use between the Florida Keys and Flamingo. Lori Oberhofer (Everglades National Park) observed Myriah by air in the Flamingo boat basin on 10/11 still with four animals.  Myriah began to move north along the west coast of Florida on the evening of 10/11.  Her movements occurred primarily overnight with distances traveled between four to seven miles most nights.  Satellite data indicated that Myriah stopped at East Cape Point, Middle Cape Canal, Big Sable Creek, Little Shark River and the mouth of Broad River.  Myriah was radio-tracked by Lori Oberhofer again on 10/18 by air in the Broad River.  Unfortunately, based on Myriah’s movements, a visual sighting could not be obtained.  Myriah continued north but remained inland for the remaining of her Everglades National Park travels.  Satellite data indicated she traveled from the Broad River to Orion Key Bay, then to Mullet Bay and Alligator Bay.  Her movements then decreased considerably, possibly indicating when she separated from the other animals.  It was believed she was traveling with other animals up until this point based on her direct line of movement each night. 

Myriah was observed bottom resting alone along the mangrove edge by WT on 10/23.  She avoided our boat at all times even when we were paddling.  Myriah was observed alone on 10/24.  She moved up a smaller creek into Jungle Bay where she was captured for her follow-up health assessment.  She was captured on the second set. Her body condition was good but there continues to be a weight loss.  Currently, her weight falls just below a wild manatees weight range (by approximately 40 lbs) but her girths from last capture have had minimal changes.  Blubber measurements could not be obtained.  A fecal sample was submitted for content analysis.   DVM Andy Stamper of Walt Disney World assessed Myriah as being in fair condition.  Based on her activity, recent movement pattern and overall body condition, it was determined to release her but monitor her behavior closely.  Since Myriah’s capture on 10/24, she has continued to travel through the backcountry of Everglades National Park.  

09/21/02 – 10/07/02 from Monica Ross, Wildlife Trust – Conservation Biologist

Myriah

Myriah did not appear to have any tag activity from 9/20-9/23 based on satellite data.  She was observed by WT on 9/23 and 9/24 west of Black Betsy Keys in Florida Bay.  She was not exhibiting her usual behavior and underwater observation indicated that the boat strike Myriah had received between 9/12 & 9/18 had caused an area behind her shoulders to become swollen.  Through conference calls and meetings between USFWS, WDW, SeaWorld, Lowry Park and WT it was decided to move up Myriah’s health assessment to evaluate her overall body condition as well as the most recent boat strike. 

Shortly thereafter, satellite data and observations by WT indicated that Myriah's behavior normalized again. She made a big move south on 9/27 and was located bayside of Plantation Key on 9/28 (total move approximately 12 miles).  She continued south in what appeared to be a direct movement pattern over the next few days.  Myriah was observed on 9/30 with another manatee (male) in a protective canal bayside of Upper Matecumbe Key.  Her behavior toward the boat and biologist were once again typical of her previous patterns.  It was observed that the swollen area on the right side of her body from the boat strike had diminished in size, now almost not detectable. Based on her improved body condition, mobility, use of known manatee habitat and social interaction with another manatee, it was decided to postpone her health assessment until a later date.  Myriah was observed milling around boat slips Oceanside in the late evening of 9/30.  On 10/1, she had returned bayside to surface rest in the same canal she was observed in during the previous day. 

Satellite data indicated that Myriah began another big move on 10/3 and because of the direct movement, I am anticipating she is with another animal: 

09/07/02 – 09/20/02 from Monica Ross, Wildlife Trust – Conservation Biologist

Myriah

A citizen reported Myriah in the Oceanside canal of Port Largo on 9/7.  She was with one other animal and both were receiving water and tactile attention from “tourist”.  Myriah was observed bottom resting with one other animal on 9/11 in the Key Largo Ocean Resort basin by Wildlife Trust (WT).  She has been observed with this same animal since 8/30.  An underwater visual observation was obtained and Myriah’s stomach appeared to have more depth mass to it in comparison to the last observation.  Myriah was also observed chewing on a plastic bag ripping off pieces before she was distracted from the bag so it could be removed.  She did not ingest any of the ripped off pieces – pieces were observed floating soon after the bag was removed.  On 9/12, Myriah was observed traveling alone in three feet of water Oceanside into Tavernier Creek.  She stopped for over an hour and feed in a small cove off the main creek on mangrove leaves, Thallasia seagrass and algae. 

  ARGOS locations indicated that Myriah moved into Florida Bay on 9/13.  She plotted out near Club Key on 9/13, Corinne Key on 9/14 and then east of Mosquito Point on 9/15.   Travel distance between sites was approximately eight miles, six miles and five miles respectively.  Rangers from the Everglades National Park, Flamingo were able to provide WT with transportation to track Myriah on 9/18.  She was observed traveling alone in very shallow waters (1-4 feet).  Myriah was even observed flipper walking to get into and out of some of the more shallow areas.  Myriah unfortunately has had another encounter with a boat since last observed on 9/12.  The new scar is located behind her shoulders running from left to right along her back.  No pictures are currently available based on poor water clarity and weather conditions.

  08/24/02 – 09/06/02

Myriah

Pictures taken during this time period:

8/16/02 Bermuda Shores

8/29/02 Port Largo

9/4/02 Key Largo

Myriah remained in the Key Largo area Oceanside from Pennekamp to mile marker 94. 

A public sighting was reported to Wildlife Trust (WT), on 8/25 by Judy McGraw (Pennekamp State Park).  Judy reported that boat captains had seen Myriah with two other animals traveling south out of South Sound Creek (mile marker 101).  On 8/26, a public sighting by a resident in the Port Largo canals reporting that Myriah was in the canal behind his house with one other animal and that her tag was sunk.  Volunteers for FWC, Bonnie Mueller and Bill Strane, were able to attach a VHF safety tag to her old tether until WT could get into the area to exchange out the malfunctioning tag.  Bonnie and Bill reported that the bottom of the PTT tag (nose cone) had fractures in it and that the canister contained a large hole and other parts of the canister were shattered.  It is believed that the possible cause for the damage to the tag is from a boat hit.  Myriah was traveling the evening of 8/26 and the morning of 8/27 so her exact location could not be obtained for a tag exchange.  On 8/28, Myriah was found alone in Dove Creek (mile marker 94) and was outfitted with a new PTT but only the nose cone of her old tag was recovered.  The whereabouts of the rest of the tag is unknown at this time.   Myriah received a new series of prop scars on her shoulders (one on one shoulder, four on the other).  She received these new scars between 8/17 and 8/26.  Based on the freshness of the superficial scars, it is believed she might have received these scars at the same time the tag was “possibly” hit by a boat.   An underwater visual observation was made of Myriah and it was noted that her stomach had become flatter since last seen on 8/7 but there was no concave appearance or latitude line.   This could be explained by her recent reproductive cycle. Female manatees are not believed to consume much food during estrous based on “other” focused activity.  

  Myriah traveled north for most of the afternoon on 8/28 and reached Port Largo canal (mile marker 100) by the early morning on 8/29.  She was observed curling up in a ball and extending her back backwards in an arch multiple times in the morning and the afternoon on 8/29 – 8/31.  It was believed this was due to excess gas (which was observed in large quantities) but concerns were heightened based on the flatter stomach appearance seen earlier in the week, lack of time she had been observed in seagrass areas and the large quantities of algae she had recently consumed.  Andy Stamper DVM was notified and the decision was made to continue to watch her and if the condition worsened, then she would be captured and returned to captivity.  Between observations made by WT and FWC volunteer, it was determined that Myriah’s crunching and extending behavior decreased over time. She is currently displaying normal behavior.  On 8/31, Myriah met up with another animal, a male approximately 9 ft., in the southern most canal off South Sound Creek (same animal that she was observed with on 8/26).  Visual observations were obtained daily from 8/31 to 9/6 and all observations noted that she was with the same animal.  They used the three canal systems of South Sound Creek, resting throughout the morning, feeding on algae in the canals or continuing to rest throughout the afternoon and moving out into the grass areas of the Creek in the evening.   On 9/4, it appeared that Myriah’s stomach was not as flat as observed on 8/28.  Her scars also appeared to be healing nicely.  

08/01/02 – 08/23/02

Myriah

Wildlife Trust (WT) received numerous public sightings of Myriah from citizens within the Key Largo area.  She was reported alone at the Pennekamp Boat ramp on 8/4 milling around the marina and on 8/5 she had moved south along the oceanside of Key Largo and was reported alone by the Blue Water Dive Operations milling around their marina.  On 8/6, Myriah had moved further south oceanside and she was reported to be alone while observing some snorkeler’s lobster activities in a canal.  Later that evening, she was observed by WT surface resting alone in the same canal system.  Myriah was found alone on 8/7 by Penny Husted and Christy Hudak (FWC) even further south along the oceanside of Key Largo in another canal system by citizens.  Later that morning, when the capture crew arrived, Myriah was still in the same canal system with several snorkelers that were giving her lots of attention.  A capture attempt in the canal was not possible based on the depth and limited boat maneuverability.  Because of Myriah’s continued interest in humans, a snorkeler from the capture team was used to lure her out of the canal.  She was captured on the first set with a  ~15 minute haul in time.   Her body condition was good but there continues to be weight loss.  

Myriah moved north and crossed over to the bayside of Key Largo on 8/9.  Fortunately and unfortunately, a public sighting was called in for Myriah within the canals southwest of the Marvin Waterway.  The caller had tried to cut Myriah’s tag off not knowing what the equipment was.  Fortunately, Myriah would not let the person near her tail.  The caller was directed to WT with the information and they were given FWC law enforcement number to contact in the future with any concerns with entangled animals.  Based on this event and other conversations with the public, WT did a press release on Myriah on 8/16. 

  But wait there is more about Myriah…

Myriah moved north along the bayside of Key Largo back to Sexton cove canals on 8/10.  Unfortunately, the system used to call up the satellite locations was down for several days, and access was not made available until the afternoon of the 14th.  Based on satellite locations, dive frequencies and the tag tip counter; it really looked like her tag had come off late in the day on 8/13.  When WT got down to the area on 8/15, it was discovered from the information provided by a resident in the Sexton Cove area that Myriah had been in a mating herd with five other animals for the past 3 ½ days.  The behavior the resident described was definitely mating behavior and Myriah was the focal animal.  She had run herself into shallow water of about 1-2 feet and was being climbed and nuzzled by four of the five animals.  That would explain why the tag had taken any dives for several days and why the locations had not changed either.  On 8/15 around 800 she began to travel south along the bayside of Key Largo with one other animal.  She settled into the canal system just southwest of the Marvin Waterway with the same animal around 1530 and began to surface rest.  Multiple observations were made throughout the next few days to determine if a pattern existed in how Myriah used canals.  Myriah spent most of the day surface resting with the same animal in a different canal each day.  Sometime between 2300 and 0700, Myriah would move out of the canal and onto the flats.  She was observed traveling back into a canal (different canal each day) and would begin to surface rest around 730.  She was observed feeding on algae for approximately 40 minutes on 8/16.  No human activity was observed on any of the days.  This activity is interesting based on the water temperatures in the area.  During the day, the flats can have temperatures as high as 34-35 degrees Celsius while the canals remain around 24-28 degrees Celsius.  It would make since that animals would want to feed when the waters were cooler and rest where the water are cooler.  It will be interesting to see if this snap shot of behavior pattern persists over time.    

 7/10/02-7/31/02

Myriah

Myriah moved south from the Homestead Bayfront Marina area to Rhodes Key on 7/10.  She continued south to Key Largo and made a two day stop into Ocean Reef Marina before proceeding south along the oceanside of Key Largo.  On 7/16, Myriah cut through Largo Sound using the Marvin D. Adams Waterway to get to the bayside of Key Largo.  Satellite locations indicated that she moved north into Florida Bay to the southern tip of the Florida peninsula.  Wildlife Trust (WT) observed Myriah on 7/17 bottom resting with one other animal in two feet of water southwest of the US1 Bascule Bridge leading into Key Largo.  Another animal continued to approach, interact and then leave the two animals trying to rest.  The interaction was categorized as either socializing (nose nuzzling) or cavorting (simple rolling to splashing with portions of their bodies breaking the surface of the water).  No mating activity was observed (attempted copulation) but the behavior of the approaching animal indicated that interest was there but neither resting animal was receptive.  It could not be determined which resting animal was the focus of the approaching animal.  Myriah moved north along the bayside of Key Largo into Barnes Sound and remained in the Cove Point area for approximately a week.  Myriah was observed by WT on 7/23 socializing and cavorting with three other animals just north of Cove Point.  Again, no mating activity was observed and a focus animal could not be determined.   A public visual on 7/27 reported Myriah to be with two animals in the canals off Sexton Cove located bayside of Key Largo.  Their behavior was reported to be either cavorting or mating.  Myriah was observed on 7/30 by WT in a small cove off Sexton Cove in less than two feet of water.  She appeared to be feeding with one animal while another animal would approach and then move off again.  For approximately five minutes, mating attempts were observed and Myriah was the focal point.  She was not “completely” receptive and eventually tail slapped the attempter away.  On 7/31, Myriah was observed by WT in a canal off Sexton Cove feeding on algae off the seawall with one other animal (the same animal that attempted copulation the day before).  Myriah would immediately respond to animal human activity along the seawall by stationing herself in front of the person's) but she would move away after a few minutes of not receiving any interaction.    

 

6/19/02-7/9/02

Myriah

Myriah continued to use the area between Black Point and Key Largo.  Myriah began a move south from the Deering Bay Estates on 6/19 and arrived in northern Key Largo on 6/25.  She remained on the northwest side of Key Largo for almost a week and then moved ocean side into Ocean Reef Marina.  She was observed by Wildlife Trust (WT) on 6/2 milling along the seawall stopping periodically to get tactile attention from residents or freshwater.  When the human attention would stop, Myriah would move further down the docks or seawall and stop at the next human along the way.  She was observed feeding on algae from pilings and boat hulls.  On 6/3, a diver that cleans the hull of boats called in a visual of Myriah.  She was extremely tactile to him for over three hours while he “tried” to work.  Myriah continued to travel south along the ocean side of Key Largo.  She went as far south as Pt. Elizabeth and she then turned back north.  Myriah made a fast move north from Card Sound to Homestead Bayfront Marina overnight in approximately six hours on 7/6.  Satellite locations on 7/8 indicated that Myriah might have moved inland with temperature readings over six degrees Celsius below previously recorded night temperatures.  It is believed that Myriah possibly moved up one of the Locks north of Homestead.  Her tag indicated a lot of movement after her initial move inland and within three hours of the land location she was back into Biscayne Bay.  The unexplained low temperature readings might be due to the large amounts of rain the Miami area has been receiving.  Myriah was observed by WT on 7/9 just north of Homestead Bayfront Marina with one other animal.  It appeared the animals were eating before anchoring the boat.  Once anchored, both animals approached the boat but moved off after a few minutes and resumed feeding activity.   From the surface, Myriah appears to be in good body condition with no new visible markings.   

6/1/02-6/18/02

Myriah

Myriah did a few big moves over the past weeks.  She was observed by the Biscayne Bay National Park milling along their docks with one other animal on 6/2 and 6/3.  She was observed by Wildlife Trust (WT) on 6/4 in the late afternoon slowing traveling into the Homestead Bayfront Park marina with two other animals.  Myriah nuzzled and rolled around with the other animals just before they settled down to bottom rest in a cove just before the main docks.  On the morning of 6/5, Myriah was bottom resting with two other animals in the back portion of Homestead Bayfront Park marina.  Myriah began a trip south on 6/8.  We were able to get satellite locations during her move at Turkey Point, outflow of the power plant at Turkey Point, Little Card Sound-Mud Point, Manatee Bay and Pumpkin Key off Key Largo.  A public visual of Myriah was called in on the afternoon of 6/12 by a citizen in the Ocean Reef Club community located in the northern section of Key Largo.  Myriah was alone surface resting in one of the canals.   The funny part about this public visual was that the initial report on the tag was that it was a “spy device”.  How times have changed.  WT was not able to obtain a visual of Myriah during the morning or early afternoon of 6/12 based on poor weather limiting boat use.  Myriah made a big move north again to Black Point Marina.  She was observed by WT milling around the eastern boat ramps in the afternoon of 6/16.  On 6/17, Myriah was alone milling along the northern side of the jetties adjacent to Black Point channel.  An underwater observation was attempted at this time based on water clarity.  Her body condition appeared good with a round stomach and fat rolls near peduncle.  She had small scratches on her tail but no new obvious scars.  Myriah was curious and even followed the snorkeler back to the boat, but immediately left once the snorkeler was back in the boat.  Myriah reacted each time the boat engine was started.  She would move quickly to a new location and remain on the bottom oriented towards us for a few moments.  On 6/18, a citizen reported that Myriah was bottom resting in the 173rd Canal just south of Deering Bay Estates.  Myriah was not alone though.  Reportedly, two other animals were in the area circling her.  A big thank you to Biscayne Bay National Park Service for providing boat assistance when available to track Myriah.  Shelby Moneysmith and Toby Obenauer have been wonderful to work with and their help has been greatly appreciated.  

5/14/02-5/30/02

  Myriah

Myriah expanded her travel range to include the northern portion of Key Largo over the past few weeks.  Myriah was spotted surface resting alone in the Homestead Bayfront Marina by a citizen on Wednesday 5/15.  She then began a week long movement which placed her north of Mowry Canal on Thursday 5/16, south of Little River on Saturday 5/18, north of Princeton Canal on Sunday 5/19, and then west of Old Rhodes Key on Monday 5/20.  This was a lot of moving for her, which was nice to see.  On Tuesday 5/21, Myriah was observed bottom resting with one other animal in a small cove of mangroves west of Old Rhodes Key.  She was observed with one other animal on Wednesday 5/22 in another mangrove area west of Old Rhodes Key.  This time though, it was much more difficult to locate her because she had actually swam up into a very shallow mangrove area behind another mangrove area.  The two animals were observed slowly moving along the mangrove fringe feeding on algae from the roots of the trees for several hours.  Myriah moved south to the east side of Key Largo on Thursday 5/23 and then to the west side of Key Largo on Friday 5/24.  She went back to Old Rhodes Key on Saturday 5/26, across Biscayne Bay to Little River on Sunday 5/27 and then north to Military Canal on Monday 5/27.  Since Monday, Myriah has been in the Homestead Bayfront Marina area.  She was observed traveling out of the marina on Wednesday 5/29 with five other animals.  It was reported by a citizen that Myriah had been a participating member of a cavorting group earlier that day inside the marina.

  Myriah’s  blood and assessment results from capture 5/13/02 per Dr. Andy Stamper:

Physical exam:  Animal’s body condition was good.  No new abnormalities or defects.

Assessment:  Myriah is still losing weight but this is to be expected and she visually looks good.  She was much more lively during this capture. This is more consistent with her previous captive attitude.

Blood:  CBC slightly elevated but within high normals and a pattern of a stress leukogram.  Creatinine is slightly elevated (4.1) but stable from the previous sample.  CPK was markedly elevated but this could be caused by the capture.

Plan:  Physical exam, weights and blood analysis during the next scheduled captures.

 

4/22/02-5/13/02

Myriah

Myriah remained in the area from Black Point Marina south to Homestead Bayfront Marina.  This area has limited land access except for flood structure access roads.  Kit was able to obtain a key from the water management district so we could have road access to these structures.  Thank goodness because the walk was over a mile long one-way in the hot Florida sun.  Myriah was seen on 4/28 with five other manatees at  Mowry Canal.  She was observed eating algae from the flood structure walls and she was also observed receiving a lot of attention from people that were trying to touch her.  Luckily her behavior was not altered by the people’s attention—she did not leave the area, stop feeding or start looking for attention from the humans when they stopped touching her.   Unfortunately, everyone spoke Spanish and did not understand the “no touchy” hand signal.  Myriah was north of Military Canal on 4/30 and 5/1 but we were unable to get a visual of her activities based on the lack of land access.  She was observed in the Goulds Canal on 5/1 late in the evening slowing milling along the bank.  On 5/5, Myriah was observed in the Homestead Bayfront Marina socializing with three manatees.  After an hour of socializing, Myriah slowly moved out of back part of the basin with one animal following her.  They stopped for approximately 45 minutes in the area where fishermen throw their gutted fish into the water.  Both animals came to the surface several times moving their mouths, which can be an indication of a feeding behavior.  There have been reports in this area of manatees eating the discarded fish parts.  The next part of the observation was unnerving to watch.  It took Myriah and the other animal 65 minutes to swim through a boat ramp of 10 launch slips.  It was late in the afternoon and there were many boats returning from a day on the water.  There was a continuous flow of boats coming into the each ramp slip while other boats were being pulled from the water via trailer.  When the two animals swam between the first two ramp slips, the manatees swam in circles between the approaching boats that were docking.  The circling behavior went on for almost 25 minutes before Myriah and companion found an out into the next ramp slip area.  Most of the boats became aware of the manatees by other boaters pointing them out.  Almost everyone took caution and gave the manatees space once noticed (only one exception). On 5/10, Myriah traveled north to an area just south of Black Point.  Penny Husted (FWC-SE Field Station) received a call from a citizen on the evening of 5/11. It was reported that Myriah was at the Princton (Moody) Canal and was observed to have fishing line, leader and two commercial grade 9 hooks in her mouth.  One hook was attached to her lip and the fishing line was coming out of her mouth.  The citizens were able to cut away a lot of the line and tried to work the hook out of her lip.  Myriah was receiving tactile attention from individuals when they noticed the fishing equipment hanging out of her mouth.  Wildlife Trust received notification of the sighting from Penny that same evening.   Myriah moved south and was observed milling along the shoreline alone in the Biscayne National Park boat basin on 5/12.  I was able to swim up to her and see a large hook and two types of leader wires in the left corner of her mouth.  The hook was not attached to either lip and the leader wires were in a ball way up in the corner of her mouth.  I was able to pull hard on the wire ball but there was not a give to the mass.  When I swam away from Myriah, she followed me to the ladder and rolled over while I was getting out of the water.  She stayed in the canal for approximately ten minutes then continued a milling behavior along the shoreline into Homestead Bayfront Marina.   Myriah was observed feeding alone on mangrove leaves on the morning of 5/13 with the fishing equipment still hanging out of her mouth.  Myriah was captured on the first boat set on 5/13 at 1145.  The rescue capture team consisted of staff from WDW Living Seas, SeaWorld, FWC and Wildlife trust.  When she was pulled onto the boat, she no longer had any fishing equipment attached to her mouth.  DVM Andy Stamper and DVM Don Neiffer did not see any abrasions to the mouth or could not find any material just inside the mouth cavity.  General consensus was that the fishing equipment probably was stuck inside a tooth and had the opportunity to work its way out during the capture.  Routine health assessment was conducted on Myriah since we had her in hand.   Myriah immediately flipped over to lie on her back (again a preferred position for her).  This time though, she was not as calm as she was on her last capture.  She did a lot of flipper chopping and a few body clam extensions.  Myriah’s tag was changed out because the protective cover over the antenna disappeared last week.  So, 8091 was removed and it was replaced with 1880.  Blubber values were taken for the first time.  Blood and weight were conducted with her on her back.  She weighed 1350 lbs (weight on 4/10 was 1395 lbs and weight at release date of 2/5 was 1538 lbs).  Blood values are pending but her overall body condition appeared “good” per DVM Andy Stamper.  He thought her body condition looked slightly better compared to her last capture on 4/10. 

4/8/02-4/21/02

Myriah

Myriah’s routine health assessment was conducted on 4/10.  The capture team consisted of staff from the following organizations:  Walt Disney World-Living Seas, FWC, Miami Seaquarium, SeaWorld and Wildlife Trust. Myriah was located about one mile south of Black Point.  She was observed alone slowly milling along the mangrove shoreline in about 2-3 ft of water.  Myriah was captured on the first boat set around 1100 and she immediately flipped over to lie on her back, a preferred position for her.  It was decided to do as much of her workup as possible with her in this position.  Blood and weight were conducted with her on her back.  Weight was approximately 1395 lbs (weight on 2/5 was 1538 lbs, thus maximum weight loss of 143 lbs).  She could weigh a bit more because we were unable to get her completely suspended off the boat based on her size and placement.  Tagging equipment was adjusted.  Blubber values were not taken due to a change in personnel availability.  Blood values are still pending but her overall body condition appeared “good” per DVM Andy Stamper.  Myriah was observed on 4/12 in the Black Point Marina manatee sanctuary bottom resting next to Trident.  A few days later, Myriah moved south again and has remained south of Black Point just east of Military Canal.  We have not been able to obtain visuals of Myriah in the Military canal area based on the lack of land access.  Efforts will be made this week to obtain a key to the canal system gates for better land access.   

 

4/10/02 Health Assessment

Myriah was located alone about a mile south of Black Point 15 ft from the mangrove shoreline in about 2-3 ft of water.  She was captured on the first set and proceeded to fall into her favorite position -- upside down.  It was decided to do as much of her workup as possible with her in this position.  So bloods and weight were conducted with her on her back.  Her weight was 1395 lbs.  There is the potential that she could have weighed a bit more because a small piece of the stretch and about an inch of the side of her mouth were sitting in water at the time of measurement.  We were unable to get her completely off everything based on her size and placement.  Blood values are pending but her overall body condition looked very good.

3/25/02-4/7/02

Myriah
Myriah moved back and forth between the Cutler canal system and Deering Bay.  She was seen accompanied with Brooks and one other animal while in Deering Bay.  On 4/3, she was south of the Cutler canal system at Deering Estate eating alone in the morning in the shallows and milling alone around the seawall in the afternoon.  I was able to get a boat ride to see her (offered by Deering Estate personnel).  Myriah investigated the boat as it floated in the water, but swam away when the engine was started.  Myriah was located approximately one more mile south on 4/4.  Visual observation was not obtained based on the lack of boat availability.

3/11/02-3/24/02

Myriah

Myriah spent the last two weeks traveling back and forth between the Cutler Ridge canal system and Deering Bay.  She was observed on 3/15 eating algae off the bottom of a small creek adjacent to a very nice golf course.  On 3/16 she was observed milling under boats stopping periodically to eat algae off the pilings and off the bottoms of boats.  There was one animal in close proximity sleeping at the surface.  Through public sightings, Myriah was observed in Deering Bay with one other animal on 3/19 and three other animals on 3/20.  Myriah was observed at the mouth of the Cutler Ridge canal system on 3/21 slowly moving along the side of the canal into the system.  On 3/24, Myriah had moved back into Deering Bay and was accompanied by Brooks.

2/24/02-3/10/02

Myriah

Myriah was observed milling or bottom resting alone in the Cutler Ridge canal system or just north in Deering Bay from 2/24 through 3/6.  On 3/8, she had moved four miles north to a canal system off Matteson Hammock Park into a portion of the canal called Lake B.  She was observed bottom resting in the corner by herself.  She was observed by residents milling around the entire Lake B basin alone on the morning of 3/9.  The morning of 3/10 Myriah began to move out of the canal just after residents stated that they had just seen another manatee in the area leave.  Myriah traveled out of the canal and began bottom resting in two feet of water just north of Snapper Creek over a plethora of Thallasia and Syringodium sea grass.  Her body condition was assessed underwater while snorkeling.  She looked really good.  She still has fat rolls along the peduncle.  Her stomach is still round and there were no new abrasions.  Her skin was peeling probably due to her new tan (have to add some humor).   When Myriah went to the surface for a breath, she became aware of my presence and began to observe me.  She did not approach or move away during the observation period.