BAHAMAS MANATEES: GINA’S CALF NEEDS A NAME!

November 23, 2015 by Rolling Harbour

Gina the Bahamas Manatee (pregnant) Eleuthera (BMMRO)

Gina the Manatee, Eleuthera – expectant mother (BMMRO)

BAHAMAS MANATEES: GINA’S CALF NEEDS A NAME!

Earlier this year I posted the welcome news that Bahamas manatee Gina was beyond any doubt pregnant. You can read about it HERE. Gina has been living for some time in Eleutheran waters, under regular observation by the BMMRO. At the turn of the year, she was re-tagged in Harbour Island, Eleuthera, when her pregnancy was discovered. I promised to give an update and this is a perfect moment. Gina’s calf was safely born and is growing fast. The pair have spent a lot of time in and around Spanish Wells, Eleuthera. Recently they have begun to move further afield, and there have been several sightings with some great photos shared on FB and in particular on Felice Leanne Knowles’s terrific BAHAMAS MANATEE CLUB page, some of which are included here duly credited.

Gina the Bahamas Manatee (pregnant) Eleuthera (BMMRO)

Gina’s calf is currently just called “Gina’s calf”. Its gender is unknown, and it will take a close inspection from below to ascertain from its… I don’t have to go on with this, do I? The point being that the chosen name will need to be unisex because it may take a while until there is sufficient development of the… I don’t have to go on with this either, do I? Let’s see the nameless calf at once! Details of the competition at the end of this post…

Gina with her newborn calf, July 27 (BMMRO) (note apparent prop scars on Gina) 11209341_1012183408800885_310154952620912454_n

Spanish Wells, October 26 (π Junea Pinder / BMMRO) Gina the Bahamas manatee and her calf (Junea Pinder / BMMRO)

Gregory Town, November 5 (Lynne Hirzel / BMMRO)

Hatchet Bay, November 13 (π Jeffrey Louis / BMMRO) 10425501_1042928762405755_7163144254688618862_n 12108239_1042928735739091_6064773734031487371_n

November 18: Now you see it… (π Norma Roberts / BMMRO) Gina & Calf Norma Roberts 1 copy

…and now you don’t… Gina & Calf Norma Roberts 2 copy

THE COMPETITION

ATTENTION TEAM MANATEES!!! Due to a consistent influx of sighting information and photos, we would like to add Gina’s calf to our catalogue. It would be nice for it to have a NAME!! We cannot monitor these manatees without your help and it is only fitting that YOU name the manatee. The deadline for name suggestions is November 29th, 2015 and the winning name will be revealed on November 30th, 2015. The member with the winning name suggestion will receive an official manatee club T-Shirt!!

RULES

1. The name must be submitted on the Club Page Bahamas Manatee Club as an individual post – DO NOT comment your suggestion.
2. The name must be unisex – we do not know the sex of the calf yet.
3. A meaning or description must be submitted along with the name.
4. Please do not submit any derogatory or explicit “names.”
5. If you are submitting on behalf of a child who is not on Facebook, please add their name to the post as well.

Spread the word! Tell your friends and families to join the club and help us with a name!! The name will be selected on it’s meaning or description as it relates to marine mammals OR The Bahamas. The amount of “likes” per post will also go into consideration during the selection process.

Regretful Note: I made the stupid mistake of being amongst the very first to post my suggestion, meaning that after a day or two I’d get no likes at all, as more people got involved and my offering sank slowly. But there’ve been plenty of much better ones since, so probably just as well!

Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organization

Bahamas Manatee Club

For more information about West Indian manatees, you can visit the MANATEE PAGE. There are several links there to specific manatee stories.

Finally, here is a great manatee map that Felice has recently made, showing which of the increasing number of manatees is where at the moment. Just think, only 4 or 5 were known about four years back. Now look!

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Credits: primary founts of Bahamas manatee knowledge Felice & BMMRO; Photos BMMRO, Junea Pinder, Lynne Hirzel, Jeffrey Louis, Norma Roberts

MANATEES IN THE BAHAMAS: A SHORT HISTORY 1904-2015

October 5, 2015 by Rolling Harbour

West Indian Manatee Randy, Sandy Point, Abaco, Bahamas

MANATEES IN THE BAHAMAS: A SHORT HISTORY 1904-2015

Felice Leanne Knowles of the Bahamas Manatee Club has written a great round-up of the Bahamas manatee history for International Manatee Day. She has included their current whereabouts as at September 2015. I’ve added some illustrative images. I’ve called it a “short” history since, although the incidence of recorded manatee sightings in The Bahamas spans 109 years, there was a complete blank of 73 years until 1976, then only sporadic reports until the 1990s.

Randy at Sandy Point, Abaco (2015). Note the distinctive notch in his paddle that confirms his ID

“The first official documentation of a manatee sighting in The Bahamas was in 1904. The next report was not until 1975. Since the 90’s manatees have been sighted much more frequently.

GINA was first sighted in The Bahamas in 1998 at the AUTEC base in Andros. Since then, she has made The Bahamas her home and has had four calves. Gina is currently in Spanish Wells with her youngest calf of ~ 2 months. RANDY (~7 years old), her son, is currently in Hope Town, Abaco and her daughter JJ (~3.5 years old) was last seen in February, 2015 in Great Harbour Cay, the Berry Islands. Her eldest calf was lost to a motor craft strike.

Gina with one of her calves

Gina with her newest calf, photographed recently in Eleuthera

Since Gina’s arrival, more manatees have been sighted in The Bahamas as persons and organisations became more aware. RITA was first sighted 2009 in Spanish Wells, Eleuthera and was actually pregnant! She gave birth to GEORGIE on June 25th, 2010. Rita was last seen at the AUTEC base in Andros two weeks ago and Georgie was last seen in Casaurina in July 2015. These two ladies have a very interesting story which can be followed on our website: http://www.bahamaswhales.org/news/2012/news_Apr12.html [You can also read about Georgie’s adventure-packed life, with additional links, HERE]

Georgie, Rita’s daughter, at Cherokee, Abaco

Two large adult males are also inhabiting The Bahamas, KONG and BLACKBEARD. Kong was first sighted by BMMRO in December of 2011, but could have been in The Bahamas before. Kong has been a true Berry Islander and has always been sighted in Great Harbour Cay, Berry Islands. Blackbeard was first sighted in Long Island in 2010. Blackbeard got his name because he has surely traveled the Bahamian waters. He has been to Long, Cat, Eleuthera, and New Providence islands. Since his arrival in New Providence in December 2014, he has already circumnavigated the island twice for sure. He has become very popular down there to the residents and to guests.

Randy in a playful mood

There have been sightings of many other manatees, but we have not received enough photographs and information to give the manatees proper identification names and sexes. Currently, we propose that there are ~15 manatees inhabiting The Bahamas, but this number is not set in stone.

As yet unidentified manatee in Marsh Harbour, summer 2015. Note 3 prop scars on its back

BMMRO is working hard to monitor and protect the manatee population in The Bahamas and we cannot do it without the help from the public. Please stay encouraged and continue to care for these magnificent marine mammals. We would like to thank everyone who plays a role in protecting our Bahamian beauty, for providing sighting reports, for providing photographs, and for sharing information about manatees.

Gina checking out the camera! Manatees are gentle & very curious… maybe in both senses

“Always remember your manatee manners: “Do not touch, follow, or chase them, do not feed them, and do not give them fresh water to drink”.”

Props to Felice, Bahamas Manatee Club , BMMRO and ‘The Front Porch’, Eleuthera

BAHAMAS MANATEES: GINA’S GOOD NEWS FOR 2015

January 14, 2015 by Rolling Harbour

Tm_Gina&JJWest Indian Manatee mother & calf, Bahamas - Gina & JJ

Manatee Gina with her weaned calf JJ

BAHAMAS MANATEES: GINA’S GOOD NEWS FOR 2015

Last year held hopes of a joyous reunion – and indeed union – in Abaco waters between young manatees Randy and Georgie. He had taken the trip from the Berry Is., around the top of Abaco and down the east coast as far at Little Harbour. She lives in Cherokee. Tantalisingly close. But then Randy retraced his steps as far as Gorda Cay and hopes for the production of Abaco’s first manatee calf (at least, in living / recorded memory) turned to seagrass mulch. The poignant story and some great manatee close-up photos (including a ‘selfie’ of sorts on a Go-Pro) can be found HERE

West Indian Manatee mother & calf, Bahamas - Gina & JJ - weaning

But manatees do breed elsewhere in the Bahamas, in particular the Berry Is. They also seem to favour the north end of Eleuthera, and have been seen on Andros and NP. True, the absence of significant freshwater sources in the Bahamas – an essential part of their diet – doesn’t make for an ideal habitat, but manatees do pair off and Bahamas calves are born. In summer 2012, there were four resident West Indian Manatees (Trichechus manatus) living in Great Harbour Cay, Berry Is. The adult female, Gina, had been there for 3 years – she originated from Florida. She had reportedly had 3 or 4 calves and was caring for her latest, a female calf called JJ, born in the late winter of 2011.

Adult female manatees are sexually mature at 6-10 years of age and have a gestation period of up to 13 months. The first two years of a calf’s life is spent with its mother. During this time they are taught where to find food, fresh water, warmth and shelter. Generally, after two years the calf is weaned and separates from its mother (see header image of Gina and JJ during that process)

Nursing a growing JJ West Indian Manatee mother & calf, Bahamas - Gina & JJ - nursing

Now there is more good news for Gina, who has been under regular observation by the BMMRO. At the turn of the year, Gina was re-tagged in Harbour Island, Eleuthera. As reported, “she looks well, was very calm and is very pregnant… If the tag comes off and is found, please call the number on the tag to let us know – we are now monitoring her movements via the internet”.

Gina’s shows her best side

Coming atcher…

Tell-tale signs (to experts, anyway) of advanced pregnancy

I will post any further news about Gina as it arises. Meanwhile, for more information about West Indian manatees, you can visit the MANATEE PAGE. There are several links there to specific manatee stories, especially about Rita and her adventurous daughter GEORGIE, Abaco’s current favourite (indeed, only) resident manatee… Both Links need an update, I notice – they don’t cover Georgie’s subsequent return to Abaco and her contented settling down again in Cherokee where she seems happy as a… sirenian.

Credits: All photos and primary fount of Bahamas manatee knowledge: BMMRO; Magpie Pickings

WHALES, DOLPHINS & MANATEES, ABACO: BMMRO NEWS

February 24, 2014 by Rolling Harbour

WHALES, DOLPHINS & MANATEES, ABACO: BMMRO NEWS

BMMRO COLLABORATES WITH NEW PARTNER, ATLANTIS BLUE PROJECT

The ATLANTIS BLUE PROJECT is managed by the Atlantis Blue Project Foundation, a private non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of global marine ecosystems through scientific research, education, and community outreach. BMMRO is excited to now be a part of this project and in turn has received two grants from the Atlantis Blue Project for 2014

Stranding Response to Support Conservation of Marine Mammals in the Bahamas

Increasing capacity and available funds to respond rapidly to strandings in The Bahamas will increase our ability to determine cause of death and/or successful rehabilitation of marine mammals. At the first stranding workshop held in the Bahamas in 2008, the Honourable Lawrence Cartwright, Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources officially opened the workshop stating “I believe the establishment of a Marine Mammal Stranding Network in The Bahamas will serve to promote the conservation of marine mammal species and their habitat by improving the rescue and humane care of stranded marine mammals, advancing stranding science, and increasing public awareness through education.” This funding will provide the resources to train veterinarians on how to work with stranded marine mammals as well as provide the resources to respond to strandings.

Field Research & Outreach to Support Conservation of Bahamas Marine Mammals

Cetaceans are long-lived, highly specialised animals with delayed reproduction and low fecundity, which makes them incapable of rapid adaptation and thus particularly vulnerable to anthropogenic impacts. BMMRO has compiled an unprecedented long-term dataset for the region, which has become increasingly valuable to inform about the baseline ecology of some odontocete species. This research will ensure that this important work continues to fill key gaps in our knowledge about the ecology of marine mammals. Additionally, we will increase awareness and build capacity amongst Bahamians, both of which will contribute to local conservation needs.

JANUARY SIGHTINGS

For Abaco, the excitement is the sperm whale seen just off the Rocky Point area. More generally for the northern Bahamas, in addition to the manatee Georgie (former temporary resident of Abaco) and others, there was a manatee reported on Eleuthera. It looks as though these gently creatures continue to find the area to their liking.

I must be going now – thanks for visiting Rolling Harbour…

Click me!

(Thanks as ever to Charlotte & co at BMMRO for permission to use and adapt their material!)

“RITA & GEORGIE’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE”: A BAHAMAS MANATEE MOVIE

August 31, 2012 by Rolling Harbour

“RITA & GEORGIE’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE”: A BAHAMAS MANATEE MOVIE

The BMMRO has produced and distributed, courtesy of the always watchable CONCH SALAD TV, a fantastic 7 minute movie of the story of Rita and Georgie. It’s a heart warming tale of a West Indian manatee mother and calf pair that made the journey from Eleuthera via Nassau and then via cradle and boat transport to the Berry Islands for a new life. It’s a tale of conservation, preservation and hopefully (if they continue to get on well with the small resident population there) procreation… The main natural difficulty facing manatees in the Bahamas is the lack of fresh water – see how this is tackled. The main man-made problem comes from man’s use of the waters. For example, boat-strike / propeller damage is an ever-present danger. To see more about Manatees in this blog CLICK HERE To reach the BMMRO Facebook page CLICK HERE

BMMRO INTRO

IT’S HERE!! MANATEES IN THE BAHAMAS. PRESENTED BY LOGGERHEAD PRODUCTIONS

Grab your popcorn and everyone in the community, office or home…ENJOY! SHARE! ♥ MANATEES !