Sirenews (ISSN 1017-3439) appears twice a year

in April and October and is edited by Daryl P. Domning,

Department of Anatomy, Howard University, Washington, D.C. 20059 USA

(fax: 202-265-7055). It is supported by the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission.

NUMBER 21 APRIL 1994

IN THIS ISSUE: - REPORTS OF KINGSTON AND GAINESVILLE WORKSHOPS (pp. 3-4)

- UPCOMING MANATEE GIS WORKING GROUP MEETING (p. 5)

- SHARK BAY DUGONG RESEARCH NEEDS (p. 9)

EDITORIAL: TEN YEARS OF SIRENEWS !

With this issue, Sirenews begins its second decade. This is a testimony to the loyalty of its readers, without whose contributions and continuing interest this newsletter would long ago have ceased to exist. It is also tangible evidence of the flourishing state of sirenian research and conservation efforts throughout the world. This growing human attention to the status and needs of manatees and dugongs encourages me to believe that these species will survive the current mass extinction after all. So, my sincerest thanks to all of you who have helped make this publishing project a success, as well as a continuing source of pleasure for its editor.

This anniversary also coincides with several other significant milestones for the sirenian research and conservation community. A workshop on manatee conservation held last month in Jamaica (see report below) inaugurated what we hope will be a new era of activity in the wider Caribbean region; and Sirenews stands ready to serve as a medium of communication for the regional network that is to grow out of that meeting. A few days later, the First International Manatee and Dugong Research Conference took place in Gainesville, and was hailed as a great
success by its surprisingly numerous participants. This will be followed in June by the first meeting of the new Manatee Geographic Information System Working Group in Florida - yet another sign of the increasingly sophisticated technology being brought to bear on sirenian problems. It appears that our specialty is on the point of crystallizing on a global scale in a way few would have anticipated ten years ago.

This is therefore an opportune moment for a synthesis of what sirenologists up to this time have achieved; so it is fitting that this month has also seen my sirenian bibliography go to press. Embracing literature from 1507 to 1994, and probably more exhaustive in coverage than the information-retrieval apparatus available for any other group of organisms, it is intended to be a foundation on which future workers can build with greater ease and assurance than ever before. With a sure grip on the data of the past, growing use of the data-processing tools of the present, and the achievement of a critical mass of active workers, sirenology can now look forward to a bright future of discovery.

The moment is also convenient to review, for the benefit of our many new readers, some of the basic facts about Sirenews itself. This newsletter is intended as an informal forum for communication within the sirenian research and conservation community, and reaches a select readership of about 200 individuals and organizations worldwide. Since it is not designed as a mass-circulation publication, I have not attempted to advertise its existence to the general public or greatly expand its mailing list, nor do I wish to (more on that in a moment). However, I am happy to send it gratis to anyone with a serious interest and involvement in sirenian affairs.

This constraint on circulation arises partly from Sirenews' nature as the official newsletter of the Sirenia Specialist Group (though it is by no means restricted to SSG members), but more practically from the logistics of its publication. This is entirely a one-man operation; your Editor has absolutely no secretarial or other help with its compilation or mailing. He maintains the mailing list; types the newsletter from your submissions, down to the last keystroke; prepares camera-ready copy and delivers it by hand to the printer; addresses, stuffs, and affixes postage to all the envelopes; and hauls them to the post office - all as a part-time job in addition to full-time research, academic, and other duties. Hence his reluctance to see the number of such envelopes grow too large! A corollary of this is that if you no longer wish to receive Sirenews, it would be much appreciated if you would let him know so that printing, postage, and labor expenditures can be held down.

These constraints on your Editor's time also mean that he cannot regularly contact you to solicit news items, or indulge much in investigative journalism. If you have sirenological news, or a provocative opinion to share, or know of past or future happenings that might be of interest to your colleagues, PLEASE do not wait for an invitation; send it in! Otherwise it may well slip through the cracks. This applies especially to meetings or workshops that should be reported on in these pages; if you're a convener or just a participant, and are unsure whether someone is covering the event for Sirenews, contact me - I'll probably be happy to accept your offer to write a report!

In all cases, please try to adhere to the copy deadlines stated at the end of each issue. They never change - April 1 and October 1 of every year - and I do try to stick to them. If your piece arrives after the newsletter gets put to bed (and some have), it's six months to the next issue and your news may be pretty stale by then! If your submission is a long one (more than a page), please consider submitting it on MS-DOS diskette - preferably 5-1/4" in WordStar or ASCII format.

To quote a reminder from our very first issue: Sirenews is "an informal forum, not to be considered citable, formally-published literature; it will not be 'peer-reviewed', and contributions to it should not be quoted without the written permission of the author. Certainly the opinions expressed will be those of the writers and not necessarily those of IUCN or other organizations. Therefore, I hope that contributors will feel free to offer informal speculations and ideas as well as news in the interest of rapid communication." For some time the Zoological Record has been indexing items from this newsletter, and I have noticed some people citing information from Sirenews in their publications. This is NOT a practice to be recommended, however; and articles from Sirenews will not be listed in my forthcoming sirenian bibliography. As is also true of theses, abstracts, in-house reports, and all other forms of "gray literature", if it's important enough to cite, it's important enough to publish through the normal, peer-reviewed outlets. Quality scholarship demands no less, and we need to set a good example for our students.

One further note to our subscribers, in response to many inquiries: back issues of Sirenews are in most cases not available. To avoid tying up money in inventory, print runs are kept to a size commensurate with the current mailing list. I have a very few copies of some of the more recent issues, which I am happy to distribute as long as they last, with priority going to requests from libraries. However, complete runs of back issues cannot be had, nor are there any plans to reprint them, nor am I in a position to duplicate them to order for individuals; so I'm afraid you'll have to borrow copies and xerox them yourselves.

This little newsletter's second decade will take us into the next century. Centuries to come will look back on our era as the time of crisis, when the long-term survival of sirenians and countless other species was decided one way or the other. If they make it past the next hundred years of human population growth, they can probably survive anything, even asteroid impacts. As news of your efforts keeps coming in, I look forward to seeing how the story unfolds. - DPD

REPORT OF CARIBBEAN MANATEE WORKSHOP

On 1-4 March 1994 the Regional Workshop on the Conservation of the West Indian Manatee was convened in Kingston, Jamaica by the Natural Resources Conservation Authority (NRCA) of the Government of Jamaica and UNEP's Regional Coordinating Unit (RCU) of the Caribbean Environment Programme, with partial financial support from the Government of the United States of America.

The objectives of the meeting were to review and exchange information on the status of the West Indian manatee, Trichechus manatus; review and provide inputs to the draft regional management plan for the West Indian manatee; and formulate a specific plan of action of priority conservation activities to be implemented during the 1994-95 biennium. Twenty-one experts from the region, as well as ten observers representing non-governmental organizations and academic institutions, participated in the meeting. Regional experts present included, among others, Dr. John Reynolds, Chairman of the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission; Dr. Daryl Domning, sirenian specialist; Dr. Daniel Odell, Research Biologist at Sea World; Dr. Thomas Carr of the Caribbean Conservation Corporation; Dr. Miriam Marmontel, manatee researcher from Brazil; and Mr. Benjamin Morales, manatee researcher from Mexico. Other experts representing ten of the nineteen manatee-range countries of the region also participated in the meeting.

The meeting successfully reviewed the draft regional management plan and provided technical inputs to assist with its finalization. The draft plan contains general information on the biology and distribution of the species in the region, as well as specific information on its status in each of the nineteen manatee-range countries. However, the main component of the draft plan is a general framework for manatee conservation in the Wider Caribbean, which includes recommended priority, as well as long-term regional activities. The draft plan also recommends specific in-country activities to be implemented at the national level.

The meeting agreed on the following priority activities as part of the draft plan: environmental education and public awareness; assessment of manatee status and distribution in those countries which have not done so; increased protection for manatees and their habitat and reduction of human-related mortality through adoption of international treaties and enforcement of national legislation; preparation of national recovery plans by national recovery teams; establishment of a regional cooperation and information network for manatee conservation with the assistance of a regional network coordinator. Many of these recommended activities follow the model of the successful sea turtle conservation effort of WIDECAST, which has been implemented in the region for the last ten years in cooperation with UNEP.

The meeting also recommended that the draft plan include, as an additional appendix, sample formats for data-gathering relevant to manatee conservation in order to ensure uniformity in the type of data collected in the region.

Prior to the finalization and approval at the intergovernmental level of the draft management plan, it will be circulated among the manatee-range countries not represented at the meeting to ensure that the information is accurate and relevant.

In keeping with these recommended priority activities, the meeting identified three main activities to be implemented during 1994-95: 1) the production and wide dissemination in English, Spanish, French, and Dutch of educational materials (pamphlets, posters, and videos) using as much as possible existing materials from relevant organizations and programs; 2) support of an ongoing manatee conservation effort between Mexico and Belize to assist with the development of the relevant recovery plans and school-system educational activities; and 3) development of national recovery plans and national recovery teams for those manatee-range countries that have already begun relevant manatee conservation activities.

Additionally, the meeting recommended that, in keeping with the WIDECAST model and pending intergovernmental approval of the draft management plan, an interim regional manatee coordinator and an interim informal manatee advisory group assist the Secretariat with the preparation of the national recovery plans and implementation of the other recommended activities as appropriate. [ED. NOTE: Dr. Miriam Marmontel was unanimously recommended for the role of interim regional manatee coordinator.]

Additional recommendations requested the States of the Wider Caribbean to accede to or ratify the SPAW Protocol, as well as the CITES, Ramsar, CMS, and Biodiversity Conventions, as these relate to the conservation of endangered species. It was also recommended that the Secretariat establish closer cooperation with the Secretariats of the treaties mentioned above, as well as with relevant programs of the Marine Mammal Action Plan.

For further information, contact: UNEP Caribbean Environment Programme, Regional Coordinating Unit, 14-20 Port Royal Street, Kingston, Jamaica; telephone: (809) 922-9267 to 9; fax: (809) 922-9292; Telex: 3672 UNEPCARJA; Email: UNIENET:UNX040 & ECONET:UNEPRCUJA. - Alessandra Vanzella Khouri (Programme Officer, UNEP-CAR/RCU)

MANATEE CONFERENCE EXPRESSES CONCERN ABOUT

HABITAT LOSS IN COASTAL ZONE

The First International Manatee and Dugong Research Conference, held in Gainesville, Florida, on March 11-13, 1994, brought together over 200 scientists from 17 countries who are involved in conservation and research projects on manatees and dugongs. This diverse group of experts presented new information on sirenian evolution and genetics, monitoring of sirenian distribution and trends in abundance, manatee immunology, anatomy and behavior, manatee hearing and response to approaching boats, management challenges, and the impact of coastal zone degradation on sirenians throughout their range. In many of the 65 countries where sirenians still occur, gillnetting, deforestation, and poor agricultural practices have contributed to declining quality and diversity in coastal marine systems. Seagrass losses have been documented on both coasts of Florida and in Australia, and there is growing concern in countries such as Mexico and Belize that nearshore plant and animal communities will disappear as human populations and coastal development expand. The potential for conflicting objectives in freshwater aquatic plant management was also highlighted. Aquatic plant managers and manatee biologists must work together to ensure that plant control does not have detrimental effects on manatees.

The conference, sponsored chiefly by the University of Florida's College of Veterinary Medicine, was immediately followed (on 14-18 March) by a workshop on manatee and dugong research methods for participants from developing countries. This Sirenian Research Workshop was sponsored by the National Biological Survey's Sirenia Project. Its purpose was to train biologists, primarily from the Caribbean region, in methods of sirenian research, such as aerial surveys, capture techniques, food habits analysis, and radiotelemetry. This training was conmpleted at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's Marine Research Institute in St. Petersburg, and at Sea World in Orlando. Twenty-three biologists from 12 countries participated in the workshop.

On the last day of the workshop, the participants divided into groups to assess the applicability of the various techniques used to study sirenians. The chart on the following pages presents the results of this assessment as summarized by Helene Marsh.

The conference and workshop emphasized the need for coordinating our efforts to study and protect manatees across international boundaries, and laid the foundation for transferring knowledge and technology developed for the Florida manatee to sirenian researchers worldwide. The importance of sirenians as flagship species for the coastal marine environment was widely recognized.

For a copy of the conference proceedings (= book of abstracts), send US$5.00 to: Office of Conferences and Institutes, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, P.O. Box 110750, Gainesville, FL 32611-0750. - Lynn Lefebvre and Roger Reep

MANATEE GIS WORKING GROUP MEETING

The first meeting of the Manatee GIS Working Group will take place June 29, 1994, at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg. The purpose of the Working Group is to encourage communication among organizations interested in cooperating on the Manatee Geographic Information System (MGIS) by presenting a forum where individuals can gain access to expertise, examine computer hardware needs, and discuss data-sharing issues. The specific goal of the upcoming meeting is to produce a Marine Mammal GIS Users Reference Guide, which will be a set of guidelines that cooperators can follow to effectively interact with the MGIS. Ultimately, the Working Group will serve as a forum for discussing database management issues, examining analysis techniques, and evaluating resource-use options impacting manatees.

The groundwork for the upcoming Working Group meeting was laid by the GIS Coordinating Team. This team has met semi-annually for two years and includes representatives from the Marine Mammal Commission and Federal, State, and County government agencies.

If you are interested in participating in the Manatee GIS Working Group, please RSVP by the end of April, if possible, so that we can send out an information packet and make the necessary arrangements. We want to emphasize that the MGIS Working Group belongs to the participants and is open to governmental and non-governmental organizations alike. Participants are expected to contribute to the development of the MGIS and follow the guidelines that the group establishes. Success of the Working Group will depend on the user community's commitment to make it function effectively.

Please contact:

Richard Flamm

Chairman, MGIS Working Group

Florida Marine Research Institute

100 8th Avenue SE, St. Petersburg, FL 33701-5095

tel: (813)-896-8626, ext. 255

fax: (813)-823-0166

internet: richard@manatee.fmri.usf.edu

DEP email: flamm_r

The tentative agenda for the meeting is given on p. 8 below.

The Manatee GIS Working Group: First Meeting

Tentative Agenda

St. Petersburg, FL, June 29, 1994

University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, Activities Center

Corner of 2nd St. South and 6th Ave. South

Expected Participants

State agencies

Non-governmental organizations: Save the Manatee Club, business community, County representatives

Federal agencies

Conservation organizations

Universities

Contractors developing data for Manatee GIS participants

Opening remarks (9:00 AM, R. Flamm)

Historical overview (9:10 AM, J. Reynolds)

Roles of participating agencies in developing Manatee GIS (9:30 AM)

Marine Mammal Commision (J. Reynolds)

Department of Environmental Protection-Research (B. Weigle)

Department of Environmental Protection-OPSM (P. Rose or K. Frohlich)

National Biological Survey, Sirenia Project (L. Lefebvre)

County government (Dade or Brevard counties)

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (B. Turner or J. Kraus)

Break (10:45 AM)

Manatees and their ecosystem: data requirements (11:15 AM, R. Flamm)

Manatee data themes (11:30)

Mortality (S. Wright)

Aerial Survey (L. Ward)

Telemetry (B. Weigle)

Boating Studies (K. Frohlich)

Other: seagrass, bathymetry (C. Friel)

Lunch (1:00 PM - 2:15 PM)

Data exchange (2:15 PM, C. Friel)

Data standardization, documentation, and ethics issues

Manatee GIS reference guide: an approach to resolving the above

Future vision (3:00 PM)

Standard paper map series (B. Porter)

Manatee atlas on CD-ROM (B. Weigle)

Integrated modeling and decision making (R. Flamm)

Conclusion and discussion (4:00 PM, R. Flamm)

MANAGEMENT OF THE SHARK BAY DUGONG POPULATION:

RESEARCH REQUIREMENTS

The dugong population at Shark Bay, Western Australia, estimated to include approximately 10,000 individuals of all ages, may represent 10-12% of surviving dugongs. It is one of the largest known, and the only one of its size that can be attributed to a relatively discrete and apparently isolated area. In the context of World Heritage listing for the Bay, and the establishment of the Shark Bay Marine Park, There is both an opportunity and a requirement for research essential to a well-founded management program.

Information gathered between 1974 and 1992 provides a substantial basis for further study and for management, but is incomplete in many areas. As I don't anticipate further research at the Bay in the near term (the next 4-5 years), I've outlined what I see as pressing needs for further study, hoping that my suggestions can be followed up when opportunities arise.

I. Habitat Use

A. Forage resources:

The full extent of the Halophila spinulosa bed discovered in 1992, and the seasonal persistence (or lack of it) of the high standing-crop biomass observed, need to be determined. The information could be readily obtained using the techniques applied in 1992 (Anderson, submitted to Wildlife Research). The bed is likely to be highly vulnerable to trawling operations and to have importance for the productivity of the Bay ecosystem as a whole. The degree of activity and impact of trawlers in northern Herald Bight should be investigated.

B. Summer distribution of dugong activity:

A summer survey, like that carried out in July 1989, is essential for an effective understanding of the habitat requirements of the Shark Bay dugong population. Although winds make summer survey work difficult to schedule, a comprehensive survey is not impossible. Ideally, two surveys (March and October) should be flown to bracket the summer season. Surveys at these times would avoid the windiest months.

C. Movements:

Seasonal distribution of dugong concentrations clearly varies from year to year under influence of temperature (influenced by weather and probably the Leeuwin Current). The 1989 discovery of large numbers of dugongs using the area N and E of Cape Peron raised the question of whether seasonal migration patterns may be separate on eastern and western sides of the Bay, or whether there is a single population that may vary in distribution from year to year. The question could be economically attacked through both photoidentification and a program of aerial spot surveys at selected localities over several years.

II. Reproductive Biology

A. Breeding season:

Our information on breeding seasons at Shark Bay is very limited. The lek at Gladstone runs from September through January (my paper on the lek should be submitted to Behavior in January 1994). A dead neonate was found at Monkey Mia in November. Neonates appear as late as March at Gladstone. At present, except by extrapolation from Queensland where breeding (August or September through December or January) is associated with a very different wet/dry season cycle, we have very little understanding of when dugongs at Shark Bay mate and give birth. Further information on the timing of mating is vital to any management program.

B. Mating:

The lek at Gladstone can account for only a small portion of annual matings. Are there other lek sites? Does the number of females visiting the lek vary from year to year? Do mating herds (as postulated in Queensland) occur in Shark Bay? My work on the Gladstone lek only scratches the surface of what might be done there, provided the site is properly protected from intrusive research, ecotourism, or documentary filming. It is possible that the site and associated behaviors are unique! If so, the site is of very high scientific value and further intensive (and non-intrusive) study is justified for scientific reasons alone.

C. Calving:

It is a reasonable assumption that dugongs are most vulnerable to predation at birth and in the first few weeks of life. Although I expect that calving will prove to be spatially and temporally dispersed, the rarity of observations suggests that there must be favored calving sites that are presently not visited by humans. It should be a management priority to discover when and where most calves are born and take appropriate measures for protection before unforeseen developments interfere.

III. Social Structure

A. Group composition:

My observations on scarring patterns suggested that adult males may be solitary, and that herds may consist of adult females and immatures of both sexes. If this is actually the case, it has implications for management. The issue could probably be resolved by an extended photoidentification study.

B. Group size:

May vary with season and location. As ecotourism develops, a compulsory system for recording locations of sightings, estimates of numbers, and proportion of cow-calf pairs should be instituted to provide information for management purposes.

IV. Response to Disturbance

A. In a situation where recreational boat traffic and ecotourism can be expected to grow, dugongs may be subject to increasing harassment. A program in which observers were posted on tour boats, to monitor tour boat activity and to record dugong responses, should be set up to establish a basis for management regulations.

B. There have been proposals in the past (e.g., sand mining, establishment of artificial shelters for rock lobsters in seagrass beds) that could impact the dugong population. Other proposals for commercial exploitation of the Bay are likely in the future. Data gathered on all aspects of dugong biology in the Bay should be assembled in data bases designed to be readily accessible in the event of both anticipated and unanticipated development proposals.

C. As early as 1988 I was promised that consideration would be given to establishment of a dugong sanctuary encompassing both the northern and the southern coves at Gladstone. To my knowledge nothing has been done. This is basically a people-management problem, and implementation requires some focused research on human use of the Gladstone area, and on alternative sites that could meet human demands while adequately protecting lek and foraging areas in and near the Gladstone embayment. - Paul K. Anderson

LOCAL NEWS

CUBA

Recent Activities. - Lourdes Ferrer reports that she and Alberto Estrada have presented papers on manatees at two recent meetings in Cuba:

- "The manatee as a possible tourist attraction in Cuba" by L. T. Ferrer, at the International Workshop on Ecotourism, held in Santiago de Cuba, 22-25 Nov. 1993.

- "Aerial censuses of the Antillean manatee in the Zapata Peninsula" by L. T. Ferrer and A. R. Estrada, at a meeting on Tropical Ecology held in Havana, 6-10 Dec. 1993.

They are also revising for publication their summary paper on manatee distribution in Cuba.

In March 1994, Miriam Marmontel came to see them in her new capacity of interim regional manatee coordinator (see Report of Caribbean Manatee Workshop, above). They found her visit very stimulating, and we look forward with pleasure to increased Cuban participation in the new regional efforts to protect manatees.

FLORIDA

Florida Manatees Are Still Endangered. - Manatees in Florida have been granted protection for almost a century, but the population is still considered in danger of extinction because of excessive mortality and habitat limitations. During a statewide aerial survey in 1992, fewer than 2,000 manatees were sighted. In order to guide species recovery, a recovery plan was developed in 1980 and revised in 1989 and 1994. One of the major research objectives of the plan is to better understand manatee population biology.

As a graduate student at the University of Florida, I analyzed data and material collected during a 16-year period by a team of federal, state, and non-government agencies involved in manatee research. The existence of over 1,200 skulls of manatees recovered dead from Florida's waterways allowed me to develop a technique to estimate age from bones. These data were then coupled with information derived during necropsies of most of those specimens, yielding information on age-related aspects of mortality and reproduction for the Florida manatee population.

Collision with boats is the most prominent identifiable cause of death among manatees, affecting all ages indiscriminately. Mortality takes a larger toll on younger manatees, as it does in most mammals. Once manatees reach maturity, the rate of mortality decreases considerably and remains constant throughout the rest of life. Adult survival is considered high, on the order of 90%, a value comparable to other marine mammals. Manatees may mature at 4 years of age, but females produce only one calf roughly every 3 years. With such low reproductive capacity, they could not persist without extreme longevity of adults. Indeed, manatees may live up to and beyond 50 years of age.

Because of manatees' longevity and low reproductive rate, it is very difficult