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Manatee Updates |
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Biography: Amber was found orphaned at Blue Spring State Park, left behind by her mother Ann and twin sister Amanda. Ann and Amanda remained unseen for two days of observation at the park, so Amber was rescued and taken to SeaWorld. Ann and Amanda have since returned to Blue Spring and have been sighted there this winter. Amber was released at Blue Spring State Park on Thursday, 2/26/09, with Rita. When she was rescued she weighed 68 lbs and was 114 cm. |
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Field Notes:
6/10/10 – 6/18/10:
Amber traveled south this week in the channel of the St. Johns River past Thornhill Lake, then returned up to the northwestern shore of Lake Monroe by Wednesday, 6/16/10.
6/02/10 – 6/09/10: Amber has stayed on the western edge of Lake Monroe for much of this week, but on Wednesday, 6/02/10, she traveled southeast to Mother’s Arms. On Sunday, 6/06/10, she appeared to have gone a bit further west into the channel of the river.
5/25/10 – 6/01/10:
Amber has kept to the western edge of Lake Monroe this week
5/18/10-5/24/10:
On Wednesday, 5/19/10, Amber socialized with a group of 6 other animals in the southwest corner of Lake Monroe. She looks very good, with no new scars visible. A large amount of vegetation is available in this area.
5/06/10-5/10/10:
Amber’s tag is having problems with flotation but we are exploring solutions for the next model and she is doing well in the western section of Lake Monroe.
6/10/10 – 6/18/10:
Amber traveled south this week in the channel of the St. Johns River past Thornhill Lake, then returned up to the northwestern shore of Lake Monroe by Wednesday, 6/16/10. 6/02/10 – 6/09/10: Amber has stayed on the western edge of Lake Monroe for much of this week, but on Wednesday, 6/02/10, she traveled southeast to Mother’s Arms. On Sunday, 6/06/10, she appeared to have gone a bit further west into the channel of the river.
5/25/10 – 6/01/10:
Amber has kept to the western edge of Lake Monroe this week
5/18/10-5/24/10:
On Wednesday, 5/19/10, Amber socialized with a group of 6 other animals in the southwest corner of Lake Monroe. She looks very good, with no new scars visible. A large amount of vegetation is available in this area. 5/06/10-5/10/10: Amber’s tag is having problems with flotation but we are exploring solutions for the next model and she is doing well in the western section of Lake Monroe.
4/20/10-4/27/10: Amber socialized, milled, and fed on bottom vegetation in northwest Lake Monroe on Tuesday, 4/20/10. She was with 4 other animals.
4/13/10-4/19/10: Amber’s tag is giving occasional updates but could not be heard in the northwest corner of Lake Monroe on Friday, 4/16/10, nor was her belt heard in the area. Sea To Shore is investigating.
2/27/09: Both Rita and Amber were sighted this morning at Blue Spring State Park by Wayne Hartley, and had both moved out this afternoon, Rita to the oxbow just south of the spring and Amber a short distance to the north of the run. Currently, at a little after 6 pm this evening, they have entered the spring run again and are now milling around there, close together. 2/28/09: Rita and Amber have spent this morning in the spring run at Blue Spring State Park. At 10:45 am they were sighted about 30 yards apart in the run.
3/2/09: Since Amber's release on Thursday, 2/26/09, she has stayed mostly in the spring run, venturing out into the river and heading north briefly before returning to the spring again, but yesterday, 3/1/09, she was observed milling around just south of 44 bridge. During the observations she did not appear to be with other animals, but the night before groups of wild manatees were seen in that area.
3/3/09: Amber returned to Blue Spring this evening at around 5:00 pm. She had previously been in the 44 bridge area. We hope she moved south in response to colder temperatures, but we’re very happy to see that she found her way back as the weather changed.
3/4/09: This morning Sea2Shore was contacted about Amber losing her tag at the boil at Blue Spring State Park. After releasing C.C. at Crystal River Melody Fischer went to the spring and was able to retag Amber where she was still at the spring's boil bottom resting with another animal. 3/6/09: Sea To Shore is working hard to locate Amber via her belt signal and re-tag her as soon as possible. Areas being searched right now include south of Blue Spring up to the Lake Woodruff area. 3/8/09: Buddy Powell has located Amber today at 3:30 pm from his plane, picking up her signal in the west side of Lake Dexter in a large cove south of the bridge. Attempts to re-tag her will begin immediately. 3/10/09: Amber is being tracked by belt and Sea To Shore conducts daily attempts to re-tag her.3/10/09-3/16/09: Amber remains with the group of 8-9 animals on the north shore of Lake Dexter. The group's activities include feeding on hydrilla but I have not been unable to confirm feeding from Amber in particular. 3/17/09 – 3/24/09: Amber has stayed in Lake Dexter this week with the group of 8 – 9 other animals. By Wednesday, 3/18/09, the group had moved to the south shore of the lake, maybe to escape the wind. The group has been bottom-resting, milling/traveling around the lake, and some individuals have been feeding, so hopefully Amber will learn about being a wild manatee and even start feeding soon. 3/23/09-3/30/09: From the beginning of the week to Wednesday, 3/25/09, Amber and her group of 9 other animals have stayed in Lake Dexter, this time milling along the south shore. By the end of the week they had moved east, and on Monday, 3/30/09, they were observed milling in Tick Island Creek about 1/2 mile east of Lake Dexter. 3/30/09-4/6/09: Amber was seen last week with the same group of 7 adults and 2 calves milling in Tick Island Creek. Retagging attempts for her are still in progress. 4/7/09-4/13/09: Retagging attempts for Amber are still in progress. 4/15/09-4/29/09: Sea2Shore is continuing to listen for Amber's belt via flights and boat tracking. 4/27/09 - 5/14/09: Buddy Powell located Amber by flight in the cove west of Lake Dexter on Saturday, 5/2/09, and she has been tracked by belt around this same area since then. Retagging attempts for her are still in progress.
5/12/09-5/18/09: Retagging attempts for Amber are difficult because of weather and her movements but are in progress. 5/23/09-6/4/09: Amber was re-tagged on Wednesday, 5/27/09, by Melody Fischer. She spent the morning milling and traveling around the northeast corner of Lake Dexter with 2 other animals before settling down to feed along the vegetation line. She came over to investigate when Melody was approaching, circled her, and then paused momentarily which afforded Melody a tagging opportunity. After tagging she bottom-rested near the vegetation. Thursday morning, 5/28/09, she is in the southeast area of Lake Dexter. Thanks so much to Monica for all her help! Amber was observed milling and traveling on Monday, 6/1/09, still in Lake Dexter on the very eastern end at the entrance to Tick Island Creek. She was by herself at that time. 6/3/09-6/9/09: Amber has remained in Lake Dexter, moving from the center of the lake on Sunday, 6/7/09, to the eastern end of it at the entrance to Tick Island Creek on Tuesday, 6/9/09.
6/10/09-6/15/09: Amber has also stayed in
6/16/09-6/25/09: Amber has moved around the east side of
6/26/09-7/01/09: On Monday morning, 6/29/09, Amber was observed with two other animals bottom-resting at the northeast corner of 7/2/09-7/9/09: This week Amber has moved from Lake Dexter east through Tick Island Creek. As of 7/9/09 she is in the northwest corner of Lake Woodruff. 7/9/09-7/14/09: Amber was observed on Sunday, 7/12/09, at the northeast corner of Lake Woodruff near the entrance to Tick Island Creek. She was feeding and socializing with two other animals before moving slowly eastward, staying close together. 7/15/09-7/21/09: On Friday, 7/17/09, Amber socialized with two other animals in a small cove north of Lake Dexter. By Sunday, 7/19/09, she had traveled to the northwest corner of Lake Woodruff, but on Monday, 7/20/09, her tag had again come off and was located along the northwest shore of Lake Woodruff. Amber was in the area socializing with Bock and another animal. We are now attempting to get her re-tagged immediately. 7/22/09 – 7/28/09: Amber's tag was found again on 7/20/09 in northwest Lake Woodruff. She was then located and re-tagged on Thursday, 7/23/09, by Melody. Thanks so much to Monica for providing guidance and spotter services. Water clarity allowed Melody to see that Amber’s body condition was good, with a slightly convex stomach and no folds. No new scars were seen on her body or felt on her tail. On Saturday, 7/25/09, her tag was again recovered, this time in the northeast corner of Lake Woodruff. Amber was observed in the area that afternoon milling in a patch of vegetation. On Tuesday, 7/28/09, she was seen in Tick Island Creek just east of Lake Dexter milling with one other animal. Re-tagging efforts are currently being discussed. 7/29/09 – 8/03/09: Amber was observed on Monday, 8/03/09, along the northwestern shore of Lake Woodruff with two other animals. The three were seen milling, socializing, cavorting, and feeding. 8/04/09-8/10/09: On Sunday, 8/09/09, Amber was observed with 2 other animals in Tick Island Creek. The group slept on the bottom for an hour and then remained in the area after waking up. 8/11/09-8/17/09: On Tuesday, 8/11/09, Amber was seen in Lake Woodruff near Tick Island Creek, milling through vegetation by herself. On Friday, 8/14/09, she socialized with three other animals in the same area. 8/18/09-8/25/09: On Sunday, 8/23/09, Buddy was able to locate Amber from the air in Tick Island Mud Lake in Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge. On Tuesday, 8/25/09, she was observed with two other animals in Tick Island Mud Lake milling and bottom-resting. 8/26/09-9/8/09: On Monday, 9/7/09, Amber milled by herself just north of Tick Island Mud Lake, but other manatees were in the area. 9/09/09-9/21/09: On Thursday, 9/10/09, Amber and two other animals were feeding in the north entrance to Tick Island Mud Lake from Lake Woodruff. Vegetation, particularly submerged, is still plentiful in this area and throughout the stretch between Lake Dexter and Lake Woodruff. On Monday morning, 9/14/09, she was with two other animals again, this time including Bock, bottom resting in Tick Island Mud Lake. On Monday, 9/21/09, Amber socialized and bottom rested in Tick Island Creek once again with two animals, one of them being Bock. 9/22/09-9/28/09: Amber was seen milling by herself north of Tick Island Mud Lake on Tuesday, 9/22/09. Vegetation was still plentiful in the area though there was spraying going on in Lake Woodruff. 9/29/09-10/05/09: Amber was observed on Wednesday, 9/30/09, at the eastern end of Tick Island Creek near the north entrance to Lake Woodruff. She and one other animal socialized, traveled away from a loud airboat, and fed briefly. 10/06/09-10/13/09: On Tuesday afternoon, 10/06/09, Amber milled by herself in the large area of thick vegetation along the northwestern shore of Lake Woodruff. By Friday, 10/09/09, she had returned to Tick Island Mud Lake along the central north shore. There she socialized with 3 other adult animals. This area was thick with vegetation also. 10/12/09-10/20/09: Amber fed and socialized with Bock in the creek southwest of Tick Island Lake just west of the cut adjoining the creek to the St. Johns River on Monday, 10/12/09. On Saturday, 10/17/09, she had moved east in the creek and bottom-rested by herself in the late afternoon. 10/21/09-10/26/09: On Tuesday, 10/20/09, Amber socialized and fed with Bock in the creek southwest of Tick Island south of the entrance to the St. Johns River. A good visual of her dorsal side was obtained and showed no new scars or algal growth. She was socializing with Bock again on Thursday, 10/22/09, on the north shore of Tick Island Mud Lake. 10/27/09-11/01/09: Amber was observed on Wednesday, 10/28/09, milling and bottom-resting by herself in the creek just north of Tick Island Mud Lake. On Saturday, 10/31/09, she was again by herself in the creek north of Tick Island Mud Lake milling eastward toward Lake Woodruff. 11/02/09-11/10/09: Amber has possibly left the Tick Island Mud Lake/Lake Woodruff area. We are listening for her belt and plan to listen by plane if her signal is not picked up within the next few days. Plans to re-tag Amber are underway. 11/11/09-11/14/09: Amber was socializing with two other animals on Thursday, 11/12/09, just outside DeLeon Springs. On Friday morning, 11/13/09, she was at DeLeon Springs socializing with three other animals. Melody was able to approach and re-tag her with a green and white tag after two initial approaches. A body condition was obtained, with Melody observing that she had a slightly rounded belly with no folds, both her freezebrands were visible, and no scars could be seen. Afterwards Amber traveled out of the spring into Spring Garden Lake and Spring Garden Creek, returning to the spring on Saturday,11/14/09. Thanks so much to Keith and Kim at DeLeon Springs for being excellent spotters! 11/15/09-11/24/09: Amber was seen on Sunday, 11/22/09, at DeLeon Springs at the spring itself, about 20 feet from the outflow. She bottom-rested with one other animal. 11/25/09-11/30/09: Amber bottom-rested and milled by herself on Thursday, 11/26/09, in Alexandria Spring Creek near Kimball Lake. On Friday, 11/27/09, she traveled north along the main channel and was observed in eastern central Lake George along the shore on Monday, 11/30/09. She was milling by herself and fed on pennywort very briefly. She appeared to be slowly making her way northward up the shoreline.
12/01/09-12/09/09: On Wednesday, 12/02/09, Amber traveled south from Lake George by herself and reached Lake Dexter by Thursday, 12/03/09, where she met up with 2 other animals, then socialized and traveled east with them toward Lake Woodruff. She continued south from Lake Woodruff and reached Blue Spring by Sunday, 12/06/09. Since then she has stayed in that area, going in and out of the spring. She was observed on Wednesday, 12/09/09, milling and socializing near the mouth of the spring with 3 other animals. 12/15/09-12/21/09: Amber has continued to utilize Blue Spring throughout this week and has been noted making frequent trips out into the river to feed.
12/29/09-1/04/10: Amber was observed with a group of 6 other animals at Blue Spring on Tuesday, 12/29/09. She and 3 others milled briefly out of the spring and north up the river, then returned and traveled to the boil. On Sunday, 1/03/10, she bottom-rested at the spring, then milled and socialized with 11 adults and 2 calves before feeding by herself on the roots of palm trees.
1/05/10-1/11/10: On Wednesday, 1/06/10, Amber was observed in the swim area at Blue Spring socializing and milling with 7 other animals. She briefly ate algae from a submerged log. 1/12/10-1/18/10: Amber was seen at the boil of Blue Spring on Sunday, 1/17/10, with 2 adults and 1 calf. She bottom-rested in a shallow area on the edge of the boil while the other animals fed on palm branches and toyed with her tag. 1/19/10-1/25/10: On Monday afternoon, 1/18/10, a dead newborn calf was recovered from the spring run at Blue Spring that is believed to be Amber's. We are concluding Amber may have given birth on Monday, 1/18/10, and the calf was premature. Amber was observed later that evening milling and traveling west out of the spring into the river. On Tuesday, 1/19/10, she bottom-rested with 3 other animals in the early morning, then milled slowly east to the boil, where she stayed for the remainder of the day milling and bottom-resting. On Wednesday, 1/20/10, she was seen at the boil bottom-resting, milling, and feeding on algae by herself during the afternoon. She milled by herself near the mouth of the run on Thursday, 1/21/10, and left to go out into the river. By late afternoon she had returned and Melody was able to give her an in-water body condition assessment. She observed nothing abnormal from Amber’s genital area and her behavior seemed normal. She socialized and milled near the swim area in the run on Friday, 1/22/10, with 2 other animals including Annie, then left the spring and went out to the river that afternoon. On Saturday evening, 1/23/10, she socialized and bottom-rested with one other animal at Blue Spring. We are watching her very closely for anything abnormal. 1/26/10-2/01/10: On Monday, 1/25/10, Amber bottom-rested at the boil of Blue Spring, then socialized with another animal before milling west to the swim area. She left the spring and went out into the river nearby on Wednesday, 1/27/10, Friday, 1/29/10, Saturday, 1/30/10, and Monday, 2/01/10. She traveled out of Blue Spring into the river on Friday, 1/29/10, with 3 other animals. 2/02/10-2/08/10: Amber briefly left Blue Spring and traveled to the lagoon just south of it to feed late in the afternoon on Wednesday, 2/03/10. She did the same thing on Thursday, 2/04/10. On Saturday, 2/06/10, she milled and traveled by herself near the swim area at the spring. Amber seems to be recovering well and is behaving normally.
3/09/10-3/15/10: Amber has traveled north in the river this week to Lake Beresford, then returned to Blue Spring.
3/24/10-3/31/10: Amber traveled north from Lake Monroe and returned to Blue Spring on Wednesday, 3/24/10, where she was given an in-water body condition assessment. She looked very good and had a rounded belly. Amber’s regular tag was replaced with a new smaller experimental design which we hope will be easier for dense vegetation areas.
4/01/10-4/06/10: Amber went south from Blue Spring this week to the northern section of Lake Monroe.
4/07/10-4/12/10: This week Amber traveled along the shore of the northwest corner of Lake Monroe.
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