Take Action for Manatees!

Help Us Obtain Greater Enforcement Of Boat Speed Zones

The Issue:
Cuts in state and federal funding have resulted in fewer on-water law enforcement officers in critical areas of Florida. The Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge, created to safeguard manatees, is one such area.

Our immediate goal is to get more officers on the water during times of peak use, even if it means Save the Manatee Club pays for them. We are also increasing boater awareness with a poster featuring the message, “Navigate With Care, Manatees Are There.” And we will advocate to eliminate dangerous high speed areas.

What You Can Do:
By adding your information below, you will be sending an email to to Ken Salazar, Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, and to Florida Governor Charlie Crist, asking them to immediately increase their on-water law enforcement presence throughout manatee habitat.

Please also consider making a donation to help safeguard manatees in Crystal River and other critical areas of Florida

Thank you for your help and support!

May 20, 2013

Subject:
Increase On-Water Enforcement

Dear Secretary Salazar and Governor Crist:

Most living manatees have been hit by boats and must suffer through these sometimes horrendous injuries that can negatively affect their ability to eat, swim, and take care of their young.

For the manatee, it can only get worse as the number of boats using Florida's already busy and dangerous waterways continues to increase. With more and more boats, the probability that a manatee will be injured or killed grows larger.

Further, voluntary boater compliance in most areas of Florida has historically been poor. And according to a study by the University of Florida, more than half the boaters observed sped through manatee protection zones, even though they indicated they cared about manatees in a subsequent poll.

With the continued loss of an enforcement presence, compliance could get much worse because many boaters will correctly assume that there is a very low likelihood of being ticketed for violating manatee boat speed zones.

In some critical areas in the state, the need for additional enforcement officers is already dire and likely to get worse without your taking immediate action. Take Crystal River, for instance, where there is a year-round manatee population and where numerous incidents of boats speeding through slow speed zones have been reported. 

I urge you to do all you can to increase the on-water enforcement presence in critical areas around Florida immediately to avoid the needless suffering and deaths of this endangered species whose population numbers just over 3,000.

I appreciate your prompt attention to this vital issue.

We will add your signature from the information you provide.

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