Stormy's Field Notes

March 16th, 2004:

Stormy's release is considered a success! 

Stormy was observed resting alone in Mud Lake early this morning before his final health assessment.  The first boat set was uneventful, especially when we realized Stormy had gotten out of the net right away.  The second boat set was a little more exciting as his tag was seen inside of the net for almost the entire net pull and then...outside of the net.  Stormy proceeded to slowly travel out into the river, around a corner and into another entrance into Mud Lake.  About the time it appeared he was slowing down to bottom rest again, the third boat set was attempted with success. 

Stormy was his old feisty self while making his tag a projectile boomerang until he finally calmed down on his back.  Because of his preference to lay on his back, not his stomach, we were unable to obtain ultrasound readings on him again and only a few dorsal pictures were obtained.    

Blood, fecal, urine and skin samples were all acquired along with morphometrics measurements and weight.  Dr. Dave Murphy gave Stormy and overall condition of "Good" for his final health assessment with us.   Stormy gained 100 lbs since his last assessment in August and his belly was REALLY round. 
                   
All of Stormy's tracking equipment was removed and we consider his acclimation into the wild during our monitoring period a success.  Stormy does not have any identifiable scars at this time except for the light gray freeze brand 09 visible near his peduncle. 

Thank you to everyone that helped and supported our efforts to successfully monitor Stormy throughout this past year.  We would like to especially thank Hontoon State Park and their staff for providing dock and storage space for our boats during this tracking season!

GO STORMY, GO STORMY!!!

December 29, 2003:

Stormy has been doing all the right things over the past month.  He has been observed socializing and resting in Blue Springs and periodically goes out into the river during the day to feed on water lettuce and gator grass.  His body condition has been hard to determine since he still avoids canoes and boats amazingly well.  We have not been in the water with him since he has been at Blue Springs based on parks requests to not enter the water until January to allow the local animals acclimation time.  But from a brief view of Stormy as he swam away from an underwater camera, he looks good.  

Bad news though, Christmas Day Stormy lost his tag.  The tag was turned into one of Blue Springs' rangers the day after Christmas (left on the doorstep of his house) so we do not know how the tag came off, just that it did break off at the weak link.  We can still track Stormy via his VHF belt and will attempt to retag him after the first of the year.

November 17, 2003:

Stormy continues to venture around in his old stomping grounds from Hontoon State Park's boat basin north to St. Francis Dead River.  He has even recently traveled back and forth up and down the Norris Dead River.  Stormy has been observed feeding on numerous occasions and still responds wonderfully to most boats that are passing by (moves under floating vegetation).  He also has been observed several times socializing and traveling with other animals.  Water temperatures have dropped but it was only 22 degrees Celsius today, not enough to cause any major movements to Blue Springs yet. 

September 18, 2003:

Stormy expanded his travel range and has routinely traveled between Hontoon Dead River south to Coxetters Bend.  Stormy left the Shell Creek area around 7/27 and began traveling south into the southern portion of Hontoon Dead River.  He was observed on 8/11 in Coxetters Bend feeding, socializing and even cavorting with four other animals.  Interestingly, Stormy was documented using Snake Creek as a corridor between the St. Johns River and Hontoon Dead River on 8/13.  Snake Creek has several very shallow spots and is not well traveled by the human population.  Stormy has been observed with other animals on and off over the past month.  He has been observed routinely feeding on gator grass and water lettuce.  Stormy has also been very aware of boats but no longer darts under vegetation when a slow moving boat passes by.  You can tell from the tag activity that he will turn towards the sound of the slow moving boat and will continue to face the boat as it goes by.  If a fast boat does approach, he will dart into a small cove or under a mass of vegetation.  On 8/28, Stormy was captured for his six-month health assessment in Hontoon Dead River.  By that evening, Stormy was spotted in Blue Springs.  Stormy was also at Blue Spring's entrance cove on 9/2.  As winter approaches, it will be interesting to see if or when he will use the spring's run.

August 29, 2003:

Stormy was captured during the first boat set in Hontoon Dead River.  He had been observed earlier that morning feeding on gator grass and water lettuce with another animal appearing and disappearing nearby.  The boat set was a nice and slow set with Stormy only hitting the net once and then proceeded to work the net.  Stormy was very active once on board!  He would not lay still and he refused to remain on his stomach.  So it should be noted that ultrasound was attempted many times without success.  We were also not able to take any good pictures of his dorsal side during the capture.  Stormy looked good.  Blood, morphometrics and weight were all obtained.  Dr. Dave Murphy gave Stormy an overall condition of Good.  Stormy gained a small amount of weight since his last assessment.  It should be noted at this time, that he has been observed feeding during almost every visual observation over the past month. Stormy does NOT have a collapsed or concaved in ventral side.  In fact, his stomach was nice and round appearing to have more substance to it since last capture.  His fecal was normal in appearance but a sample was not secured (a urine sample was though).  Blood values are pending results.  

July 28, 2003

Stormy has remained in the Shell Creek area of the St. Johns River.  Plenty of food available, little boat activity with the occasional manatee visitor.  He has been primarily observed alone but in the past few weeks he has had three encounters with other manatees (ARGOS indicated one with Pine this past Wed).   Stormy is usually resting during the middle of the day during the hot hours, thus it has been hard to capture his feeding times.  But after this week, I think I have figured out his schedule.  He was observed feeding in the early evening for over a half hour and then traveled up the creek as night fell.  Tag activity has indicated he is quit active at night.  He was again observed feeding for over an hour in the early morning.  It will be interesting to see if he keeps up this pattern.

May 6, 2003:

Stormy was seen in Shell Creek (the first place he spent about a month) with a mother/calf pair on 5/2.  Through identification of freeze brands, the mother turned out to be Georgia, a previously rehabilitated animal.  Stormy was observed following her around while she feed on vegetation but would not follow her when she approached our boat.  He stayed at least 50 feet away from our boat at all times.  Georgia and calf did reach nicely to our engine and swam away quickly. 

Additional good news on Stormy - Murphy said his blood parameters were within normal range.  No dehydration apparent and his creat. value was 2.9.  Go Stormy, Go Stormy!

April 29, 2003:

Stormy was successfully captured on 4/29 for his two month health assessment.  He was observed on 4/28 in St. Francis Dead River, which is where he has been for over a month.  Surprisingly, we found him traveling north along the St. Johns River today, close to shore just north of marker 24 (approximately 2-3 mile north of St. Francis Dead River).  The first boat set was unsuccessful primarily due to Stormy's ability to dart into thick vegetation when he would hear an approaching boat.  The second attempt was just lovely once Stormy was flushed out of the vegetation by two brave souls that went into the water to splash around with the gators. 

A routine health assessment was performed on Stormy.  Back fat measurements were noted to be almost identical to the values over a month ago.  Minimal girth changes: Anal girth-decreased, Peduncle girth - remained the same, Umbilicus - slight increase.    Blood was drawn by Dave Murphy (DVM from Lowry) and the values are pending.  Fecal samples were readily available and a sample will be submitted for content analysis.   His overall body condition looked good with a weight of 960 lbs (release weight 1070 lbs, 1 month assessment 965 lbs, release weight last year 960 lbs).  He was assessed in fair condition by Murphy at this time.  A very small scar was found on his tail and all other markings appeared to be due to run ins with river debris.  Stormy's tag was re-taped and his belt was tightened slightly.   After Stormy was released, he continued his travels north along the vegetation line close to shore.  It should be interesting to see where he goes next.  

April 24, 2003:

Stormy has traveled approximately five miles from Shell Creek to St. Francis Dead River over the past month. 

Shortly after Stormy’s one month health assessment, he lost his tag.  The tether had a clean break at the weak link.  It initially appeared that the tag came off due to an entanglement in the vegetation, but we were able to easily lift the tag out of the vegetation.  Upon further tag inspection, we could see a small bite in the antenna and an area on the canister that was scuffed and scratched with paint. Since the tag had encountered thick vegetation, an alligator and a boat, we cannot say for sure what caused the tether to break.  Stormy was located by tracking his VHF belt and captured on 3/27 to reapply his tag.  While we were waiting for SeaWorld to arrive with their capture boat, Stormy was observed feeding at the end of a cove in Shell Creek. 

Stormy began to move north on 4/1 and was observed on 4/4 alone near the mouth of St. Francis Dead River.  The St. Francis Dead River is a quiet slow speed area with a variety of vegetation types available.  He was observed on 4/4 feeding on hydrilla and would move away from any boat that came into the area.  Stormy was observed alone on 4/8 and 4/10 further up St. Francis Dead River.  He was very active especially in avoidance of boats.  He would even swim under vegetation until a passing boat went by.  This was great except it made it impossible to get close to him to observe behavior much less get a look at his body condition.  When not bothered by passing boats, Stormy primarily milled along the banks.  This could have been foraging behavior but again it has been difficult to get close enough to him to see exactly what he is doing without causing him to change his behavior.  Stormy was observed alone on 4/14 and 4/16 in the early evening.  During both visuals, Stormy was predominately resting.  On 4/23, Stormy was observed alone in the early afternoon milling along the banks.  His boat avoidance was not as drastic as seen in prior weeks

March 21, 2003:

Stormy was captured on 3/20 around noon to replace a malfunctioning belt.  We had a big surprise when we initially found Stormy.  He was with Pine, one of the other tagged animals that had been about 10 miles north in the St. Johns River on 3/18.  They were observed socializing for approximately 40 minutes before Pine moved away up the creek.  It took two attempts to capture Stormy.  During the second attempt, Pine came back into the area and we had to do some blocking to keep her away from the boat/net while they pulled Stormy aboard.  A routine health assessment was performed on Stormy.  Blood was drawn by Dave Murphy (DVM from Lowry) and the values are pending. A fecal sample was submitted for analysis.  His overall body condition looked good with a weight of 965 lbs (release weight 1070 lbs).  Stormy was released in near proximity to Pine very close to the original capture site.  Both animals approached each other and then slowly traveled down the creek together.  They were observed on 3/21 still together resting in a cove off of Shell Creek.   

March 19, 2003:

We will be catching Stormy tomorrow to change out his VHF belt that stopped working prematurely. It is critical to keep a working belt on Stormy as a back up for relocation if the tag was to come off. We will be performing a health assessment at the same time only because we will have him in hand. 

Over the past two weeks, Stormy has been seen at multiple locations inside Shell Creek off the St. Johns. There is an abundant amounts of pennewort, gator grass and water lettuce in this location. Small amounts of hydrilla have also been seen over the past week floating by. Stormy was observed on 3/11 and 3/14 chewing at the surface of the water column but the type of vegetation he
was feeding on could not be determined. Based on the small amounts of hydrilla in the area and the difficulty in seeing it from the surface, that would be my best guess. A small manatee traveled into the cove where Stormy was resting yesterday. This animal =pretty much swam into the area, milled around for approximately 15 minutes and then swam back out into the main part of the Creek. Stormy followed this animal under vegetation and 3/4 of the way out of the cove but then turned back and began resting again. 

Shell Creek is a slow speed zone area and a good fishing area. Stormy has been responding very well to the boats we have seen him exposed to. He travels away from the boat noise or submerges to the bottom (based on bubbles that get stirred up when the bottom is contacted) when the boat is close. He was observed on 3/14 at the mouth of Shell Creek trying to enter the St. Johns. 
Each time he would get into the river, a boat would go by (speed 20-30mph) and Stormy would abruptly turn back into the Creek's entrance. He eventually gave up his efforts and traveled back into Shell Creek. 

March 5, 2003:

Stormy moved out of Blue Springs on 2/27 and was found approximately 5 miles north along the St. John's River on 2/28. He was observed swimming circles in a quiet area off the river on Monday 3/3 for approximately 45 minutes. Observation time was cut short due to stormy weather. On 3/4, Stormy was very active, milling along the shoreline in the same area he was located in the day
before. He was only observed circling for approximately 15 minutes on this day. Feeding behavior was not observed but he had ample amounts of food available to him along with variety of food types. Keep in mind at this point, we sometimes do not observe feeding behavior until several weeks to a month after release. Wednesday 3/5, Stormy had moved approximately 1/2 miles into a
small creek and was observed traveling, milling and resting very close to the shoreline. He was also observed submerging or traveling away from boats that would pass by. 

February 24, 2003:

Stormy was released just before noon yesterday into Blue Springs. He spent most of the afternoon traveling up and down the run between the first observation deck and the swim area. He interacted with the only two animals in the run (Georgia and her calf) which were located in the swim area. When Georgia decided to slowing travel towards the river, Stormy followed but when he got to
the dark water line (where the river and spring mix) he turned back into the spring area. 

This morning  (February 24, 2003) Stormy was reported at Blue Springs.