Sirenews (ISSN 1017-3439) appears twice a year

and is edited by Daryl P. Domning. Dept. of Anatomy,

Howard University, Washington, D.C. 20059 USA

(fax: 202-265-7055). It is supported by the

U.S. Marine Mammal Commission and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

NUMBER 18 OCTOBER 1992

IN THIS ISSUE:

- FIRST FOSSIL DUGONG FOUND: IN FLORIDA! (p. 14)

- NEW MANATEE PROTECTION EFFORTS IN BRAZILIAN NORTHEAST (p. 9ff.)

EDITORIAL: TIME FOR A CEASE-FIRE IN FLORIDA

The history of manatee conservation efforts in Florida has traditionally been marked by a high level of cooperation among the many local, state, and national governmental agencies, business firms, private organizations, and individuals involved. This outstanding record of collaboration was marred earlier this year by a controversy arising from a most unexpected quarter.

In 1981, the Governor of Florida created the Save the Manatee Committee under the chairmanship of popular singer Jimmy Buffett. This organization was affiliated with the Florida Audubon Society so that it could accept donations using Audubon's tax-exempt status. The Committee proceeded to set up the Save the Manatee Club and act as its governing board. Since then, the Club, under the leadership of its Executive Director, Judith Delaney Vallee, has built an enviable record of fundraising, public education, lobbying, and funding of research on behalf of manatees in Florida and elsewhere.

In February of this year, the Save the Manatee Committee announced its intention to incorporate itself as an organization independent from Florida Audubon, as it had intended to do from the start. On March 4, Audubon removed Ms. Vallee as Executive Director and seized the Club's office, records, and other assets, including its 30,000-member mailing list and $640,000 budget. This action was apparently prompted by fears that loss of affiliation with the Club would cut deeply into Audubon's income, much of which is reportedly generated by public interest in manatees. The Committee then sued Audubon for the return of its assets (see Sirenews No. 17).

On June 26, a Circuit Court judge found in the Committee's favor and granted a temporary injunction restoring Ms. Vallee to her post and affirming the Committee's authority to control the Club's affairs. The judge explained that although "the purpose of a temporary injunction is ... to preserve the status quo until the final hearing when full relief may be granted," the granting of the injunction is based on "a substantial likelihood" that the Committee "will ultimately prevail on the merits."

As might be expected, this dispute has attracted considerable media publicity, and the tide of opinion has run strongly against Audubon. Not yet having had enough, however, Audubon's officers are reportedly continuing their appeal of the judge's decision. This is unfortunate for all concerned, especially the manatees. The months of confusion over who was running the Save the Manatee Club, and the bad publicity surrounding this affair, understandably created a major slump in the Club's fundraising. These distractions also prevented the Club's participation in some important public hearings and regulatory meetings where its support for enhanced protective measures for manatees was sorely missed. Fortunately, with Ms. Vallee back at the helm, the Club's effectiveness was quickly restored; but time was lost and damage was done.

It is time for this needless, senseless, and scandalous episode to end, and for the leaders of Florida Audubon to accept defeat and put their energies back into protecting the environment. The Save the Manatee Club is to be congratulated on its victory as well as on this, the tenth anniversary of its founding, and we look forward with confidence to the continuation of its superb efforts on the manatee's behalf. - DPD

SIRENIA WORKSHOP - SYDNEY, 1993

John Reynolds and I have been given permission to arrange a one-day Sirenia Workshop as part of the Sixth International Theriological Congress to be held at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia from July 4 to 10, 1993. Among the 37 Symposia and 10 Workshops scheduled for the Congress, there will also be a Symposium on the Status of Marine Mammals which will include invited review papers on the status of dugongs and manatees.

The daily schedule adopted by the conference conveners is as follows:

0830 - 1100 hours for poster session

1100 - 1200 hours for plenary session

1330 - 1730 hours for spoken papers

John Reynolds and I would like to organize a specialist session on Sirenian Feeding Ecology and Habitat Status for most of the afternoon spoken paper session. This is a topic where there have been some interesting developments of late, as is evidenced by this issue of Sirenews.

We suggest allowing at least half an hour for each paper, including 20 minutes for questions. This would provide time for seven papers assuming half an hour for afternoon tea. If the demand is greater than this we could shorten the total time for each paper (and afternoon tea) to 20 minutes, which would provide time for 11 papers.

The editors of Wildlife Research have indicated their willingness to consider publishing symposium proceedings in areas appropriate to their journal. Please indicate if you would be willing to have the Proceedings of our spoken papers published in this manner. The manuscript would have to reach the editor by July 10, 1993, and would be subject to normal refereeing procedures.

Could those of you who would be interested in contributing to such a session please contact John by the end of November 1992 so that we can determine whether this session is viable? [Dr. John Reynolds, Eckerd College, 4200 54th Ave. South, St. Petersburg, FL 33711 USA; fax 813-864-8388]

The morning of the Workshop would then be devoted to a session of posters on any aspect of sirenian biology and management. Please also contact John by November 30, 1992 if you would like to present a poster.

Unfortunately ITC has no funds to offset travel, accommodation, or registration costs. We will try to obtain some assistance for speakers from developing countries. Please indicate your need for support when you contact John. - Helene Marsh

WANTED: DATA ON SIRENIAN CARCASS COMPOSITION

Statistics on past and contemporary exploitation of manatees and dugongs are available from several parts of the world. However, these statistics usually take the form of tabulations of weights of meat, fat, hides, or other products rather than numbers of actual carcasses (see, for example, Domning, Biol. Conserv. 22(2): 101-126, 1982; Sirenews No. 15, p. 6, 1991). For purposes of estimating the impact of such exploitation on sirenian populations, it is obviously necessary to calculate the number of animals taken; but accurate conversion factors are not available for any sirenian species.

It would be very desirable if those involved in carcass salvage, or (preferably) those having opportunities to observe butchering of sirenians by hunters using traditional methods, would make a special effort to collect such data. Most important to collect would be the weight of fresh meat obtained, as a function of total body length and body weight. For manatees other than T. inunguis, such data would be especially valuable if they pertained to animals less than 3 m long (i.e., in the size range of T. inunguis), so that they could be used provisionally to interpret the catch statistics on Amazonian manatees pending the collection of such data from actual Amazonian manatees.

Also useful would be data on weights of fat, oil, hide, dried or cooked meat, or other products obtained from carcasses. The exact methods of butchering and processing used should be recorded. Of course, the larger the sample, the better; however, even one or two specimens analyzed in this way would significantly enhance our knowledge and our ability to interpret past records. - DPD

AN APPEAL FOR FUNDING

FOR DUGONG/MARINE MAMMAL AERIAL SURVEYS IN THE PHILIPPINES

Marine mammal research in the Philippines is still at an early stage. Data on all aspects of the biology and ecology, particularly the stocks status, of these animals are basically wanting. Compounding the problem is the archipelagic nature of the Philippines, which has more than 7,000 islands.

Extensive preliminary surveys on the species composition of Philippine marine mammals, by Aragones, Dolar, Leatherwood, and Hill in 1991, confirmed the presence of 15 species (14 cetaceans and 1 sirenian). The list includes: Risso's, bottlenose, pantropical spotted, long-snouted spinner and Fraser's dolphins; melon-headed, short-finned pilot, pygmy killer, Blainville's beaked, sperm, pygmy sperm, humpback, minke, and Bryde's whales; and dugongs. Most of the species confirmed are taken incidentally in fishing operations, while others are directly targeted. We have strong reasons to believe that there are more marine mammal species in Philippine waters. Therefore there is a need for more surveys. In addition, the stocks of the existing species must be determined for proper management. Reference specimens of the various species are being held at the Biology Museum of Silliman University and the Museum of Natural History of the University of the Philippines at Los Banos.

As part of mt Ph.D. degree at James Cook University of North Queensland, under the supervision of Helene Marsh, I am training to carry out aerial surveys of dugong stocks within the waters of the Great Barrier Reef. I am confident of applying this method in determining not only the abundance and distribution of dugongs in the Philippines, particularly Palawan (which is one of the areas of high conservation value left in the Philippines), but also all other marine mammals and even sea turtles as well. Unfortunately, the Philippine government is not capable of funding such an endeavor. Therefore I am appealing on behalf of the Philippine government for funding for aerial surveys of marine mammals in Philippine waters. I believe that if we act now we may still be able to save and manage the marine mammal resources of the Philippines. With the help of the newly appointed Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources of the Philippines, Dr. Angel Alcala, the Philippine environment will hopefully take a turn for the better.

Anyone interested in helping or knowing more about marine mammal research in the Philippines may contact me at the following address. - Lemnuel V. Aragones (Environmental Studies, James Cook Univ., Townsville, Qld. 4811, Australia)

OIL SPILL CONFERENCE

The Third International Conference on the Effects of Oil on Wildlife will be held in New Orleans, Louisiana, 27-29 January 1993. It will comprise papers, workshops, and panel discussions on governmental concerns and contingency planning, critical habitat and resources at risk, wildlife rehabilitation and research, and a special session on the spill in the Middle East. For more information contact Eileen Muller or Joyce Ponsell, Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research, Inc., 110 Possum Hollow Road, Newark, Delaware 19711; phone 302-737-7241 or 302-737-9543, FAX 302-737-9562.

LOCAL NEWS

AUSTRALIA

Deep-water Foraging and Forage Resources for Dugongs in Shark Bay. - Because a comprehensive aerial census of dugongs in Shark Bay, Western Australia, flown by Helene Marsh in July 1989,led to a much higher estimate of dugong numbers than previously suspected and found major concentrations of dugongs in deep-water areas, questions were raised as to an apparent lack of sufficient high-quality forage to support so large a population and as to why dugongs should occur in deep-water areas where seagrass was believed to be absent and foraging would have a high cost in travel time. With the intention of resolving the latter question I mounted an expedition to the Bay between 30 June and 19 July 1992.

Hypotheses which might explain the large number of dugongs in waters > 8 m deep in the east-central Bay, a region not known to support seagrasses, were that it was a thermal refugium, and/or that a substantial forage resource (seagrass or invertebrate) existed there. Selected aerial transects flown in 1989 were replicated on 3 July and 14 July 1992. Distribution of dugongs on these transects closely approximated that found in 1989. In the interval between the two flights, sites of dugong activity, precisely located using GPS, were visited with the sailing catamaran Nortrek, and the sea floor was examined using a remotely controlled underwater video camera (ROV).

The examination revealed the existence of a hitherto undiscovered pure stand of Halophila spinulosa at depths of 9 to 14 m which is at least 50 square nautical miles in extent and which very likely extends along the entire western edge of the Wooramel seagrass bank (if so, a monospecific "prairie" of around 250 square nautical miles).

Dugong abundance and deep diving activity correlated with the H. spinulosa distribution in the block examined. Excellent infrared satellite imagery is available for both the 1989 survey and the 1992 study, and surface water temperatures were taken to provide ground truthing for satellite imagery in 1992. It will thus be possible to integrate information on surface temperature patterns and winter forage resources in the final report on this study.

As H. spinulosa is a species with succulent rhizomes similar to those of Halodule uninervis, and thus appears to be prime dugong forage, deep-water foraging in the study area can be explained, and the picture of abundance and distribution of dugong forage resources in Shark Bay has changed dramatically. The discovery that the Shark Bay dugong population may rely heavily on beds of Halophila spinulosa at depths down to 14 m or more has important management implications, since the H. spinulosa community may be extremely vulnerable to destruction by trawling for scallops or prawns. - Paul K. Anderson

The Occurrence of Dugongs in New South Wales in Winter/Spring 1992. - The southern limit of the dugong's range on the east coast of Australia is usually considered to be Moreton Bay, which extends south from about 27 S nearly to the Queensland-New South Wales border at 28 10' S. Even Moreton Bay may be thermally marginal for dugongs in winter; the water in their favored feeding area is below 19 C for three months each year. Tony Preen's work (see abstract below) shows that dugongs regularly migrate to oceanic waters outside Moreton Bay during winter to spend time in the East Australian Current, which may be up to 5 degrees warmer than inside the Bay.

Prior to 1992, there were only eight records of dugongs from the New South Wales coast, all single incidents in any one year. However, a resident of Port Macquarie reports occurrences of dugongs as far south as Port Macquarie (32 30' S) between 1930 and 1940.

The winter and spring of 1992 have been remarkable for an unprecedented spate of sightings of live and dead dugongs on the New South Wales coast as far south as 37 S. Comparison of satellite imagery of the south-flowing East Australian Current in September 1992 with corresponding imagery from 1991 indicates that the current was warmer, stronger, and flowing closer to the coastline this year than last year. Waters above 19 C extended along most of the coast north of about 31 S. I have not been able to establish how unusual this is in the longer term.

Of the eight pre-1990 records listed above, some are verbal, but the Eden and Clarence River are on the National Parks and Wildlife Service WILDATA database, and the Port Hacking and Port Kembla records were reported in Victorian Naturalist 101(4): 157, 1984. The Sydney Harbour specimen is believed to be in the Australian Museum, Sydney.

Notes on 1992 records:

o The Port Stevens Cabbage Tree Island report was a single sighting by divers and is almost certainly different from the Tomaree Head dugong, which was seen over a couple of weeks in the vicinity of a marina. This animal was reported to have survived a collision with a boat and may be the animal dead on 7/10/92.

o The Digger's Camp sightings were reported by a Mr. Grant Farrington just off the rocks on the northern end of Digger's Camp Beach in Yuraygir National Park. The dugong was seen three times over three weeks while Mr. Farrington was setting his lobster pots. It was reported to be about 3m long, slow and lethargic, and frequented sheltered shallow water where it was probably feeding.

o The Patches Beach animal was badly decomposed and could not be necropsied, but blubber samples were taken.

o The Barri Point, Botany Bay, Clarke's Beach, and Nowra specimens were necropsied and tissue samples were taken where possible for heavy metal and pesticide determination. Morphometric data were also collected. Liver tissues were also taken for genetic studies. The skulls were collected for the Australian Museum, and the remainders of the carcasses were buried for later excavation if necessary.

o The stomachs of these dugongs were, in most cases, full of seagrass and samples of the contents were taken for later identification.

o Nematode parasites were present in the stomach of the Botany Bay animal, and the full autopsy report of the Clarke's Beach animal from J. Boulton, Regional Veterinary Laboratory, Wollongbar, indicated the presence of multiple parasitic granuloma within the mucosa of the small intestine. Both the Clarke's Beach and the Nowra specimen had numerous lesions on them from cookie-cutter sharks.

o The Brunswick River, Byron Bay Lighthouse, and Green Point observations were single sightings of live animals.

- Leighton C. Llewellyn (New South Wales National Parks & Wildlife Service)

BRAZIL

New Manatee Research Center Established. - The "Centro Peixe-boi Alagoas", the Manatee Center for the State of Alagoas, Brazil, has recently been established by the federal conservation agency IBAMA in the state capital of Maceio, with the support of the National Center for the Conservation and Management of Manatees (based at Itamaraca Island, Pernambuco, Brazil). The manager of the new center is Mario Antonio de Mello. His address is: Mr. Mario Antonio de Mello, Gerente de Projetos SEMAM/PR, Coordenador do Centro Peixe-boi Alagoas, C.P. 494 - Centro - CEP 57001, Maceio, Alagoas, Brasil.

Public Education Campaigns and Surveys of Distribution and Conservation Status of the West Indian Manatee Along the Northeast Coast of Brazil. - The National Center for the Conservation and Management of Manatees of IBAMA, with the support of the Marine Mammal Foundation and WWF, have created a Mobile Unit called "Igarakue" to carry out the first two stages of its General Work Plan: to bring to the coastal communities of the Northeast coast an elaborate public education campaign for protection of the West Indian manatee and its habitat, and to carry out a detailed survey of the species' occurrence and status. "Igarakue" was one of the terms used for the manatee in the language of the Brazilian Indians.

In January 1990, the Mobile Unit began to travel through the Northeastern littoral, beginning at the Rio Fundo (Bahia/Sergipe) and arriving at the Rio Parnaiba (Piaui/Maranhao) in April 1991. It visited 199 coastal villages in seven states, logging approximately 2000 km of coastline. Interviews of 552 fishermen provided valuable information on localities and seasons of occurrence, catch and mortality, strandings of calves and other data (Lima et al., 1992).

The surveys collected much historical and present-day information. Twenty-five manatee hunters, specialists in the art of handling their small boats and sharp harpoons, furnished very important data. They indicated that the use of harpoons to capture manatees in the Northeast is doomed by the small number of animals remaining and by their sons' lack of interest in learning this technique (Lima et al., 1992).

Along the Northeast coast today, the main causes of death and capture of manatees are the constant use of nylon nets, both beach seines [redes de encalhes] and trawls [redes de arrasto]. Regular strandings of orphaned calves were also recorded, which led the IBAMA Manatee Center to establish a Rehabilitation Unit for orphaned calves at Itamaraca' Island in Pernambuco.

It appears that manatees have disappeared from the Rio Fundo estuary in Sergipe, which was identified by Albuquerque (1982) as the species' southern limit of distribution. The beach of Pontal do Peba in Alagoas is today the most southern point in Brazil where they are sighted, singly or in pairs (Lima et al., 1992).

The manatee's situation is most secure in Paraiba, Rio Grande do Norte, and Piaui. The principal areas for preservation of the species and its habitat are the estuary of the Rio Mamanguape, Paraiba, where the first Protection and Research Base of the IBAMA Manatee Center is installed; the Guarayras lagoon and adjacent coastal zone, Rio Grande do Norte; and the estuary of the Rio Timonhas and adjacent coastal zone, Piaui (Lima et al., 1992).

Based on the maximum number of animals commonly seen by the fishermen in each locale visited, the manatee population on the Northeast coast can be estimated at less than 250. The number of animals and the frequency of sightings are said to be diminishing every year (Lima et al., 1992).

Habitat correlates of sightings indicate that 78% of the manatees are seen along the seacoast near reefs and sheltered beaches (Lima et al., 1992).

Aware of the difficulty of saving the manatee and its habitat in the principal locales where it persists, the Manatee Center made a special effort to bring to the communities of the Northeastern coast the manatee protection message and to secure the effective participation of the public in manatee conservation. With a large body of ecological and behavioral data and information on the main problems to be confronted in manatee conservation, we are now working to establish Support Bases for Manatee Protection and Research in the principal areas of manatee occurrence and to monitor other areas of occurrence in various ways, these being the next steps in the General Work Plan of the IBAMA Manatee Center.

The organization of a Mobile Unit for expeditions to the northern coast (Maranhao, Para, and Amapa) is planned for 1992-93, as is the commencement of work with the Amazonian manatee. [Translated from Portuguese] - Regis Pinto de Lima (Centro Peixe-Boi/IBAMA, Estrada do Forte s/n, Ilha de Itamaraca, CEP 53.900, C.P. 01, Pernambuco, Brasil)

References

Albuquerque, C., and G. Marcovaldi. 1982. Ocorre^ncia e distribuicao das populacoes do peixe-boi no litoral brasileiro (Sirenia - Trichechidae, Trichechus manatus, Linnaeus, 1758). I Simposio Internacional de Ecossistemas Costeiros: Poluicao e Produtividade, FURG/Duke University, Rio Grande, RS, Brazil, Resumos: 27.

Lima, R.P., D. Paludo, R.J. Soavinski, E.M. Oliveira, and K.G. Silva. 1992. Esforcos conservacionistas e campanhas de conscientizacao para preservacao do peixe-boi marinho (Trichechus manatus Linnaeus, 1758) ao longo do litoral nordeste do Brasil. Revista Peixe-Boi No. 1 [in press].

Lima, R.P., D. Paludo, R.J. Soavinski, K.G. Silva, and E.M. Oliveira. 1992. Levantamento da distribuicao, ocorrencia e status de conservacao do peixe-boi marinho (Trichechus manatus Linnaeus, 1758) no litoral nordeste do Brasil. Revista Peixe-Boi No. 1 [in press].

Manatee Investigations in Paraiba. - Paraiba is, together with Rio Grande do Norte, the only state on the Brazilian Northeast coast in which the West Indian manatee has a continuous distribution; that is, this rare and threatened marine mammal may occur at any point along the Paraiba coast. Also in Paraiba is one of the principal areas of occurrence of the manatee in the Northeast: the estuary of the Rio Mamanguape, 80 km from Joao Pessoa in the municipality of Rio Tinto.

In order to preserve the West Indian manatee in Brazil, the IBAMA Manatee Center has been carrying out studies since 1986 in the areas of manatee occurrence, as well as public education campaigns in the coastal communities. As a result of these studies we now know the principal areas of manatee occurrence in the state: the Rio Goiana, on the border with Pernambuco, as far up as the port of Congac,ari; the Pedras das Galeas, Picao and Boro Beach, in Pitimbu; the vicinity of the mouth of the Rio Abiai; the estuary of the Rio Gramame (municipality of Conde) and its vicinity; the beaches of Nossa Senhora da Penha and Nossa Senhora do Poc,o, in Joao Pessoa; the coastal platform of Bomsucesso, in Lucena; the mouth of the Rio Miriri; the estuary of the Rio Mamanguape, municipality of Rio Tinto; and the vicinity of the Rio Guaju, on the border with Rio Grande do Norte.

In these localities the public education campaign was concentrated, using talks, films, distribution of educational material, posters, and signs. We then proceeded to a detailed survey of the traditional significance of the manatee for the fishing communities of the state, capture techniques, and manatee folklore. By means of interviews with fishermen and field trips, we evaluated the animals' frequency of occurrence and the importance of coastal environments in their life cycle.

In the Rio Mamanguape estuary, manatees are seen in groups of up to 11 which form, mainly in summer, for breeding. The area includes 6000 hectares of mangroves, important not only for manatees but for the sustenance of the fishing communities of the region (the villages of Tramataia, Coqueirinho, Camurupim, and Barra de Mamanguape, among others). The mangroves are important nurseries for fish and shrimp.

Since 1987 IBAMA has had a Support Base for Manatee Protection and Research on the Mamanguape estuary, and has monitored manatees and their environment in the area. Barra de Mamanguape has become the primary Area of Environmental Protection (APA) in Paraiba, and the only coastal conservation unit in the state.

An APA is a type of conservation unit that does not rule out human use of an area, but orders it according to a management plan. This plan is nothing more than the plan for development of the region in accord with human needs and environmental limitations.

Examples of this type of regulation are already being implemented in the area, such as regulation of navigation in the area in cooperation with local fishermen and the Port Captaincy, control and inspection of drains and sewers (and, independently, of discharges from sugar-cane plants) in cooperation with SUDEMA, control and observance of environmental legislation for the real-estate developments being planned and carried out in the coastal zone, the contacts made with ranchers, factory owners, tourists, municipal administration, fishing colonies, and public and private entities for development of diverse works of organization and improvement of use of the area.

A Nucleus of Environmental Education has been constructed and is presently being furnished at the Manatee Center in Barra de Mamanguape. This facility, intended principally for the local communities, will also serve tourists in the region, informing them about the importance of the local ecosystem. For the IBAMA Manatee Center, the work in Barra de Mamanguape represents a more mature phase of its strategy of action. Once manatee hunting has died out, its efforts will be invested in maintenance and improvement of the quality of the environment and consequently of human life, fundamental to the peaceful coexistence of man and nature. [Translated from Portuguese] - Danielle Paludo (Centro Peixe-Boi/IBAMA, Av. Dom Pedro II, no. 3484, CEP 58.040, Joao Pessoa, Paraiba, Brasil)

CARIBBEAN REGION

Manatee Research in Colombia and Venezuela. - Save the Manatee Club (SMC) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Sirenia Project (FWS) funded the Caribbean Stranding Network (CSN) to conduct base-line research on the little-known Colombian and Venezuelan manatee this past summer. Marine biologists Antonio Mignucci (from Puerto Rico) and Rubby Montoya (from Colombia) visited eight localities in Colombia and Venezuela, examining a total of 23 semi-captive or captive Antillean manatees and two captive Amazonian manatees.

Mignucci and Montoya's research dealt with the history of each manatee (how they came to be captive or semi-captive) and their health status. After conducting interviews relating to the capture of the manatees, they used benign techniques of morphometrics and blood and fecal sampling to assess the health of each animal. A small piece of skin was also taken for genetic studies to be conducted by FWS.

In most instances, the animals were originally captured by fishermen as calves from nearby rivers to be butchered and sold in the local market. Most of the animals examined were rescued by either CSN's participants, concerned citizens, or government agencies before they were sold. Mignucci and Montoya believe that fishermen actually capture both mothers and calves, but the large females are either killed or, with their strength,