JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The City of Jacksonville will soon invest thousands of dollars in new studies to better protect local manatees.
Tuesday, the City Council approved Mayor Lenny Curry’s budget of $1.37 billion.
Thousands of those dollars will fund resources for the wildlife, including a new study specifically geared towards protecting manatees.
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Dr. Gerry Pinto, an associate research scientist with the Marine Science Research Institute at Jacksonville University, conducts manatee research with his colleague, Dr. Quinton White, a professor of Biology and Marine Science.
He said they haven't updated the manatee protection plan for the city since the early 90’s for the city.
New this year, the city is allocating $90,000 for the Manatee Protection Plan study.
It funds the boater speed zone compliance study in Jacksonville.
A statement from the city reads in part:
"The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) encourages reassessments of MPPs every five to seven years. The purpose of revising this MPP is to collect and evaluate updated information on manatee use and boat activity in the City of Jacksonville (COJ) and provide guidance targeted at reduction of human-related threats to manatees and manatee habitat."
“What that (study) looks at is how boaters are behaving in the manatee speed zones,” Pinto said. “Are they obeying them? Are they not? Are there some compliance issues that we need to identify?”
Pinto and his colleagues will lead the study.
Pinto said they conduct the research and perform all background work.
It includes up to eight manatee zones around Duval County: north, south and some in Downtown Jacksonville.
They also work with the FWC to track where manatees have been hit by boaters.
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“The manatee population has increased in the state of Florida over the last few years, quite significantly actually,” Pinto said. “So when you have more manatees and more boats on the water, you’re going to have more deaths.”
According to FWC, Duval County currently has the highest number of manatee deaths in Northeast Florida -- five -- since the start of 2019.
Flagler County had three manatee deaths so far this year; there were two each in St. Johns and Putnam, and one each in Clay and Nassau counties.
Pinto advises boaters to watch for manatee safety zones and comply with the speed limit.
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He also recommends boaters wear polarized glasses to better see manatees in the water.
He said If a boater hits a manatee, they should always report it.
“I think the fear is that you can be fined or you can get in legal trouble for that,” Pinto said. “If it’s an accident, it’s not going to be a problem.”
The team is waiting to hear back from the state to finalize the methodology of the study before they can continue.
The plan is to start collecting research in the spring at the beginning of boating season.