November 2015-March 2016

MONITORING PUBLIC USE ON A COASTAL NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge has been called the “Manatee Capitol of the World”,with approximately 1/6 of the Florida manatee population visiting annually. The refuge also deals with hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. Despite all of this, the refuge only boasts a staff of 8 people, only 2 of which are Law Enforcement officers. The refuge also runs a volunteer program called Manatee Watch. Manatee Watch members monitor the human/manatee interactions and educate visitors on proper manatee viewing behavior.

With large numbers of manatees and people, the refuge has to be vigilant in monitoring visitor behavior on the refuge. Law Enforcement and Manatee Watch are the main ways in which the refuge monitors visitors, but sometimes decisions on where to concentrate efforts must be made. The refuge will be better able to make these decisions if they know the factors that may influence the amount and type of public use at various manatee hotspots. To determine these influencing factors, the refuge designed and implemented a public use monitoring protocol at one of the more popular manatee hotspots, Banana Islands Sanctuaries.

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The majority of the public use at Banana Island Sanctuary is made up of swimmers and snorkelers (66%). According to the data predications, there will be a greater number of tour boats at the sanctuary on cold (35F-60F) mornings (8AM-12PM). Conversely, there will be a greater number of recreational boats at the sanctuary on warm (70F-85F) afternoons (1PM-4PM). This data is useful when determining the need for Law Enforcement and Manatee Watch presence. With a large refuge to cover, and limited resources, not all parts of the refuge may be covered by Law Enforcement or Manatee Watch. It is therefore necessary to be able to determine the greatest need for Law Enforcement or Manatee Watch presence. By knowing when certain types of public use are likely to occur at Banana Island Sanctuary, the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge is better able to use the resources available to ensure adequate Law Enforcement and Manatee Watch coverage of the area.