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Manatee Updates |
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Biography: Bock was found orphaned in the St. Johns River in Duval County, close to the east coast. He was rescued and taken to SeaWorld, then moved to Disney World in Epcot’s Living Seas exhibit. He was released at Blue Spring State Park on Tuesday, 2/24/09. When he was rescued he weighed 66 lbs and was 125 cm. |
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Field Notes: 2/24/09: Bock was released at noon into Blue Spring equipped with an orange and white tag. Upon release he milled around the spring run until 3 pm, occasionally investigating other animals, and then went out to the river. 137 other animals were in the spring today, so hopefully he will socialize and learn from veteran wild animals. 2/25/09:
From last night until this afternoon he has been in the oxbow just
north of Blue Spring, still close to the spring.
On
Saturday, 2/21/09, there were 114 animals in the spring run; on Sunday,
122; on Monday, 47; and on Tuesday, 2/24/09, when Bock was released, there
were 137. 2/26/09: Today Bock has moved north all the way up to the Hontoon area. We are concerned Bock may need to be reintroduced to the warm waters of Blue Spring if he continues to move away as cold fronts approach. He will be given close attention over the next few days. We appreciate everyone’s help and attention and will keep you posted on his next move.
3/3/09: Bock
had not been back to the spring run since his release but has traveled
northward, staying around the area just north of the 44 bridge.
During the observations Bock did not appear to be with any other
animals, but residents have reported wild manatee sightings in the area
over the past few days. This morning he had begun to travel south
and stopped at 44 boat ramp, pacing around the ramp alone for about
4 hours. The water temperature there was 18 degrees C.
Sea To Shore had begun discussing capture and
rescue options and monitoring water temperature as the cold front comes
in, but Bock traveled south and arrived at Blue Spring at around
5:30 this evening. Amber and Rita were already there, and the three
milled around the mouth of the spring run fairly close together.
It was great to see that he made it back to the spring on his own
as the cold front moved in.
3/4/09:
This morning Sea2Shore was contacted about first Bock losing his tag near
the entrance to Blue Spring and then Amber also losing hers in the spring,
at the boil. Melody Fischer went to the spring and was able to retag
Amber at the spring's boil where she was bottom resting with another
animal. Bock stayed elusive just outside the spring run, but the
next attempt will be made early tomorrow with the hope that tonight's cold
weather will bring him back in the run. 3/5/09: This morning Bock was re-tagged at Blue Spring at 9:21 a.m. He spent an hour and a half traveling up and down the spring at a fast pace before slowing down to mill near the entrance to the spring, and as he stopped to lay on the bottom for one minute near the mouth of the spring, Melody was able to re-tag him as he resurfaced to travel again. Afterward he and Rita milled and bottom rested with the other animals on the far bank near the spring's entrance. 3/7/09: As of today most animals have left Blue Spring, including the 3 new releases. We went from 115 animals in the spring yesterday to 20-something today. Bock has traveled north again, up past 44 bridge. For the 2-3 days prior to that he had been staying at Blue Spring, staying close to Rita and sometimes following her as she milled around.
3/9/09:
Bock
was observed today in the St. Johns River north of marker 24 on the west
side of the channel, close to the edge, interacting with a small
stationary fishing boat whose motor was off. He approached the boat
and came within 10 feet but then immediately traveled away.
3/10/09:
Bock was observed in the same general area today as yesterday, this time
about ¼ mile south of marker 24 on the east side of the channel.
He was again milling along the shore of the river and appeared to
be alone. 3/10/09-3/16/09: Bock has spent this week in and around Horseshoe Mud Lake near marker 24 in the river. There is a lot of spatterdock and gator weed there right now and very little boat traffic, and it is a Slow Speed area. In observations Bock spent a lot of time milling around in the vegetation, but no feeding has been observed yet. 3/17/09 – 3/24/09: Through most of last week Bock had stayed in and around Horseshoe Mud Lake milling in the spatterdock. On Monday, 3/23/09, he was milling through patches of spatterdock in St. Francis Dead River just south of marker 26. By the morning of Tuesday, 3/24/09, he was heading further south in the channel. 3/23/09-3/30/09: Bock has moved north from Horseshoe Mud Lake to Lake Dexter, spending most of this week milling along the northeast shore. By Monday afternoon, 3/30/09, he had moved east into Tick Island Creek, where Amber and 9 other animals are now. During the 3/30/09 observation he had not met up with her yet, but he was less than 1/4 mile west of her and several other animals were seen in his immediate area. 3/30/09-4/6/09: Bock moved east from Tick Island Creek into Lake Woodruff, then south and is now just south of the lake in Norris Dead River. 4/7/09-4/13/09: Bock spent the latter part of last week near Highland Park Fish Camp in Norris Dead River, milling and traveling north and south near the spatterdock, then moved back up to Lake Dexter for the weekend and is now at the eastern end of the lake at the entrance to Tick Island Creek. 4/15/09-4/29/09: On the afternoon of Friday, 4/17/09, Bock was milling 100 feet from the southwest shore of Lake Woodruff with two other medium-sized animals. On Monday, 4/20/09, he was traveling and milling east along the north shore of Lake Dexter toward Tick Island Creek, this time alone. On Tuesday, 4/28/09, Bock was traveling and milling along the north shore of Lake Dexter. Once again he tended to stay in or along the vegetation. 4/27/09 - 5/14/09:
Bock was observed on
Tuesday, 4/28/09, on the north shore of Lake Dexter, milling and traveling
and occasionally stopping beside patches of vegetation. On Sunday,
5/10/09, he bottom-rested along 5/12/09-5/18/09: Bock was seen with one other animal on Friday, 5/15/09, at the entrance to Tick Island Creek on the eastern end of Lake Dexter. The two were bottom-resting together and then Bock began milling. 5/23/09-6/4/09: Bock was milling, bottom-resting, and socializing with one other animal in northeast Lake Dexter on Saturday, 5/23/09, and Sunday, 5/24/09. Monica Ross was able to feel a small part of the lower side of his belly during the observation. The belt was not excessively loose, and Monica could feel no folds on the area of his belly she felt. He was seen bottom-resting on Monday, 6/1/09, with one other animal in eastern Lake Dexter on the south side of the channel. By Tuesday he had moved into Lake Woodruff 25 feet from the northwestern shore. He was seen milling and traveling that afternoon. 6/3/09-6/9/09: Bock was given an in-water body condition assessment on Sunday, 6/7/09, by Melody Fischer. He appeared healthy. That morning and later that afternoon he was seen socializing with 3 other animals on the eastern end of Lake Dexter. 6/10/09-6/15/09:
Bock was socializing with 2 adults and 1 calf in
7/2/09-7/9/09: We are continuing to search for Bock around his latest locations on the northern and western edges of Lake Woodruff, Tick Island Creek, and Lake Dexter. 7/9/09-7/14/09: Bock's tag was recovered on Friday, 7/10/09, along the north shore of Lake Woodruff (where Bock was last seen milling) by Monica Ross and Melody Fischer. The tag was covered in vegetation. It had broken off at the tether's weak link. We are attempting to relocate and re-tag Bock as soon as possible. 7/15/09-7/21/09: Bock was located from Buddy Powell’s plane on Saturday, 7/18/09, at the entrance to Tick Island Creek. He was then observed with two other adults and a calf. Melody attempted to re-tag him but he was evasive. Bock was seen again on Monday, 7/20/09, socializing with Amber and one other animal in the northwest corner of Lake Woodruff. Sea To Shore is continuously attempting to re-tag him. 7/22/09 – 7/28/09: Melody attempted to re-tag Bock on Thursday, 7/23/09, along the northwestern shore of Lake Woodruff, but he avoided her during all attempted approaches. That afternoon he was bottom-resting, milling, and traveling by himself. On Monday, 7/27/09, he was observed with one other animal around the same location at the northwest corner of Lake Woodruff traveling, milling, and feeding (finally confirmed!). Re-tagging efforts for Bock are currently being discussed. 7/29/09 – 8/03/09: Bock was seen in the northeast corner of Lake Dexter on Thursday, 7/30/09, milling by himself in patches of vegetation. On Saturday, 8/01/09, he was seen traveling through a large patch of vegetation along the northern Lake Woodruff shore, again by himself. 8/04/09-8/10/09: Bock was seen on Friday, 8/07/09, with 3 other animals along the north shore of Lake Dexter where a lot of vegetation has grown up. Bock and the others fed for nearly two hours that afternoon on vegetation in floating patches. 8/11/09-8/17/09: Bock was observed Tuesday, 8/11/09, in the patches of vegetation in the southwest corner of Lake Dexter, socializing with two other animals. On Friday, 8/14/09, he was seen milling by himself in the northwest corner of Lake Woodruff. 8/18/09-8/25/09: On Sunday, 8/23/09, Buddy located Bock from the air in Tick Island Mud Lake in Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge. On Tuesday, 8/25/09, he traveled and milled by himself in Harry's Creek about a mile south of Lake Woodruff. 8/26/09-9/8/09: On Monday, 8/31/09, Bock was seen by himself milling in Lake Woodruff. He was found milling again on Thursday, 9/3/09, in Lake Dexter near the entrance to Tick Island Creek. 9/09/09-9/21/09: Bock was with two other animals including Amber on Monday morning, 9/14/09, bottom resting in Tick Island Mud Lake. On Wednesday, 9/16/09, he was milling by himself in the creek north of Tick Island Mud Lake leading to Lake Woodruff. Other animals were in the area at the time but he did not socialize with them during the visual. The area is still thick with vegetation. Bock was again with Amber on Monday, 9/21/09, in Tick Island Creek, bottom resting and socializing. 9/22/09-9/28/09: Bock was observed on Friday, 9/25/09, with two other animals along the east side of St. Johns River in the channel, just south of marker 23. The three were feeding on the surface of the water. 9/29/09-10/05/09: On Wednesday, 9/30/09, Bock was seen along the west side of the main channel of the St. Johns River north of marker 20. He and one other animal were socializing, then feeding for 30 minutes. 10/06/09-10/13/09: Bock was observed on Tuesday, 10/06/09, in the northwestern part of Lake Woodruff along the western shore south of the entrance to Tick Island Mud Lake. He was milling by himself through a large area of vegetation. On Friday, 10/09/09, he was again milling by himself, this time further out toward the center of Lake Woodruff on the western side, and again he was found in a large patch of vegetation. 10/12/09-10/20/09: On Monday, 10/12/09, Bock was socializing and feeding in the creek southwest of Tick Island Lake. He was with one other animal: Amber. They fed together for about an hour. On Saturday, 10/17/09, Bock milled by himself in the cut in the creek over to the St. Johns River. He was passed twice by boats traveling slowly and both times he traveled away westward, ending up in the main channel of the St. Johns River. He milled in the channel afterward, remaining just outside the cut. 10/21/09-10/26/09: Bock was observed on Tuesday, 10/20/09, again in the creek southwest of Tick Island just south of the entrance to the St. Johns River. He was again with Amber, both socializing and feeding. As he surfaced during the visual it allowed for a good look at his head and back, and no new scars or algal growth were seen. On Thursday, 10/22/09, he was again socializing with Amber, this time on the north shore of Tick Island Mud Lake. 10/27/09-11/01/09: On Monday, 10/26/09, Bock cavorted and then socialized with two other animals in the northern half of Tick Island Mud Lake. This could possibly have been a mating herd but it could not be confirmed. Bock was seen again on Saturday, 10/31/09, just outside of Lake Woodruff. He was by himself and traveling northeastward toward Lake Woodruff, then slowed down to milling. 11/02/09-11/10/09: Bock was observed on Friday, 11/06/09, in Tick Island Mud Lake, traveling with two other animals up to Lake Woodruff and then continuing along the western shore. He was seen again on Saturday, 11/07/09, back in Tick Island Mud Lake again along the north shore, again with two other animals. They milled northwest and socialized. Plans for re-tagging Bock are underway. 11/11/09-11/14/09:
On Thursday, 11/12/09, Bock was seen alternately milling and traveling
by himself from Cross Creek just off the creek south of Tick Island Creek
out into the St. Johns River. River temperature there was 21 degrees C.
Bock was again with one other animal on Tuesday, 11/17/09, socializing and occasionally traveling, this time southward. They had moved north from their location the previous day to about ¼ mile south of Lake Dexter, still in the main channel of the river. A re-tagging attempt was planned for that day but Bock did not let the boat within 100 ft. of him. On Saturday, 11/21/09, Bock had moved to the south shore of Lake Woodruff. He socialized with one other animal and was possibly feeding but this could not be confirmed. The water temperature there was 24 C. 11/25/09-11/30/09: On Tuesday, 11/24/09, Bock was milling and bottom-resting with one other animal along the western shore of Lake Woodruff. On Saturday, 11/28/09, he milled and traveled slightly northward by himself along the western side of the main channel of the river around marker 18. He was seen again on Monday, 11/30/09, traveling and milling on the side of the channel through the vegetation, north of marker 18 in the main channel of the river. 12/01/09-12/09/09: Bock was observed on Tuesday, 12/01/09, with 8 other animals in Lake Dexter socializing, traveling, and feeding. A re-tagging attempt was made but was unsuccessful due to Bock being very evasive. On Thursday, 12/03/09, Bock and one other animal socialized, milled, and traveled along the western shore of Lake Woodruff, where he was again too evasive to allow a re-tagging. On Sunday, 12/06/09, he had traveled south down the St. Johns River by himself to marker 32 and was continuing south. On Tuesday, 12/08/09, he returned north and traveled along the southern shore of Lake Woodruff and joined one other animal. There was no opportunity for re-tagging. 12/10/09-12/14/09: Bock was seen on Friday, 12/11/09, in the main channel of the St. Johns River initially traveling south with 7 other animals and then bottom-resting. Afterwards he milled across the channel to the east side and met up with 2 other animals, then fed on water lettuce. On Monday, 12/14/09, Bock had traveled further south to Mud Lake along the St. Johns River. He socialized and fed on pennywort with 6 other animals.
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