2000-255A - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

40 E-3 C7 Indian Inver County Manatee Protection and Boating Safety Comprehensive Management Plan manatee population. A major concern is the vessel traffic within and adjacent to warm -water discharge areas and the adverse effects on manatees using the refuge. Also, manatees have been injured from monofilament line and fishing hooks at the warm -water sites. This is because warm -water refuge areas are popular for fishing in winter months. These human actions can drive manatees into colder waters, malting them more susceptible to disease or cold stress. Issues relating to interruptions of thermal discharge are contained in the policies section of this pian. County Distribution Although manatees are present year-round in Indian River County, the number varies with the season. In particular, the St. Sebastian River is thought to serve as the most important cast coast concentration area for the Florida manatee between wintering areas in south Florida and summering areas in northern Brevard County. Much of the entire east coast population depends on Indian River County waters at some time during the year for feeding and resting or as a travel corridor. The overall distribution of manatees in Indian River County is a function of a variety of natural and human factors. The complex individual and social dynamics of the species make it difficult to precisely identify, on a consistent basis, the location of manatees in the waters of Indian River County. Ground and aerial surveys, however, have documented several factors that can be used to predict, on seasonal and temporal scales, areas where manatees are known to carry out portions of their life -cycles. Manatee occurrence in Indian River County is affected by the location of preferred foraging habitat, adequate water depth for traveling and/or resting, location of deep water areas adjacent to shallow water seagrass beds utilized for feeding, availability of freshwater sources, ambient water temperature, location of warm -water refuge, and availability of quiet areas for calving and resting. Aerial surveys conducted in 1986 and 1987 by the FDNR, and radiotelemetry data for 1986 through 1991, indicated areas of high manatee use throughout portions of the IRL in Indian River County. These High Manatee Use Areas (see definitions) are the confluence of the St. Sebastian Diver with the IRL; the St. Sebastian River and Sebastian Inlet areas; the vicinity of the Vero Beach Municipal Power Plant; and the area from Porpoise Point south to the county line. Significant manatee use areas (Occasional Manatee Use Areas, see definitions) also include the waters east of Pine Island, John's Island Creek, and the Indian River Narrows south to Gifford, including waters associated with tite ICW which are used during seasonal migrations to and from warm -water refuge. Manatees also depend on associated canals and tributaries, including the Hobart Landing marina canals, the Grand Harbor development canals, the River Shores subdivision canals, and Vero Shores subdivision canals. In general, data indicate that manatees occur year-round along the eastern and western shores, as well as near island shorelines in the county, Other locations where fewer manatees have been documented include: the C-54 Canal, the Main Relief Canal, the Moorings, Oslo, Hole in the Wall Island vicinity, and John's Island vicinity. Figure 4 depicts manatee abundance areas in Indian River County. Community Development Department Page 18