Manatees: Alabama’s Gentle Giants and how YOU can protect them

Sponsored

Not long ago, when manatees were seen along Mobile Bay’s estuaries and coasts, scientists thought they were “accidental tourists” who lost their way.

Who could blame them? Between 1980 to 2006, experts estimated only about 200 sightings of manatees in Alabama. 

That began to change in 2007 when the Dauphin Island Sea Lab Manatee Sighting Network was established, the first program of its kind.

By training and involving citizen scientists throughout the region to identify and record manatee sightings, the number of manatee encounters jumped exponentially to 4,500 sightings between 2007 to 2025, according to the Network.

Manatees were not lost—they knew what they were doing.

We’ve been reporting on animals that are found only on Alabama’s coasts and bays that need our protection for survival. See how we learned to “share the beach” with sea turtles at this link.

For our second story in this three-part series, we’ll learn to protect manatees and how these gentle giants play a role in our delicate coastal ecosystem. 

Survival of manatees in doubt

It is important to remember that in the late 1970s, the very survival of manatees was in question. The West Indian manatee—or what folks also commonly call the Florida manatee or sea cow—was listed as an endangered species. 

Living primarily along Florida’s shallow coastlines, bays and rivers, its population was rapidly dwindling because of habitat loss from overdevelopment and encounters with humans and their boats, which became the leading cause of their death.

At the time, the number of Florida manatees was estimated in the hundreds. Now, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, it’s more than 8,000.

A Florida governor & Alabama rockstar step up

The peaceful manatee, which can reach 10-12 feet long and weigh 1,100 to 1,800 pounds, needed a champion. 

In 1979, the governor of Florida, Bob Graham stepped up and declared the month of November as Manatee Awareness Month. That one action caught the public’s attention and started the long campaign to save these gentle giants that live among us.

But there is only so much a governor can do. Manatees needed a rockstar…literally.  

A little over a year after Governor Graham’s Manatee Month proclamation, in 1981, he teamed up with Mobile native and late rockstar Jimmy Buffett to establish the Save the Manatee Club. 

Over the next four decades, the dynamic duo educated and advocated for manatees, helping establish laws that created manatee protection zones and perhaps, more importantly, energized Buffett’s legion of “Parrotheads” to support the cause.

As a lifelong advocate, Buffett worked with former Governor Graham on protecting manatees until he passed away in 2023, penning a 2021 joint Tampa Bay Times op-ed voicing concerns about the possible delisting of the Florida Manatee.

Migrating Alabama’s manatees

Dr. Ruth H. Carmichael, a senior marine scientist at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab and head of the Alabama Manatee Sighting Network is quick to remind folks that manatees have been migrating between Florida and Alabama for a very long time.

“Manatees have been found in the fossil records along the Gulf Coast and even on the Mid-Atlantic coasts dating back to the Pleistocene era.”

According to Carmichael, manatees were thought to be primarily Florida animals. That’s changing. Presently they are expanding (or re-expanding) their range likely due to a combination of population recovery and environmental changes that prompt distribution shifts. 

Today, they are found along the Gulf Coast, from Alabama through Texas, with Mobile Bay being a major migratory end point for some animals. Moreover, the estimated number of manatees seasonally in Alabama has increased from 30 to 45-50 in the last decade.

How you can help spot manatees in Alabama

A turning point for manatee education and protection in Alabama was in 2007, when the Dauphin Island Sea Lab (DISL) created the Manatee Sighting Network program, with support of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

“U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Alabama Field Office, thought that they were receiving more reports of manatees in the area (coastal Alabama). They asked if someone at the Sea Lab would be interested in pursuing and documenting manatee sightings.” 

Dr. Ruth H. Carmichael, Dauphin Island Sea Lab

DISL accepted Fish and Wildlife’s challenge. They combed through old records about manatee sightings in Alabama dating back as far as 1912, creating a historical database. Then, they set up a 24/7 reporting hotline where people could report sightings. Over the years, they have trained a vast network of citizen-scientists on how to observe and continue documenting the slow-moving creatures. 

The result: DISL created the first ever formal Manatee Sighting Network that is being modeled elsewhere, according to Carmichael. 

More importantly, the citizen-scientists have become guardians and protectors of the migrating manatees.

“It’s really become a true citizen-sourced, citizen science network where we have the community involved in sharing data. It’s become increasingly important to keep an eye on the manatees, particularly during the cold season.” 

Dr. Ruth H. Carmichael, Dauphin Island Sea Lab

Why manatees matter: An umbrella species

There is nothing on earth quite like manatees. They are huge, vulnerable, slow vegetarians who mostly keep to themselves. It begs the question, why do manatees matter?

Carmichael told us they play a special role in the coastal ecosystem. 

“We refer to them as umbrella species. If they’re in your area and they’re doing well, they’re kind of telling you ‘hey, your area has good habitat, the water’s good.’”

They are also the proverbial canary in the coal mine. Carmichael calls them sentinels. By watching and studying manatees—their expanding and changing range, for example—we learn more about the health of the Gulf and how it supports living things.

Manatees need our help: the Network

Want to assist DISL’s research and protect manatees in Mobile Bay and surrounding waters? Here are 4 easy steps from the Manatee Sighting Network YOU can do to protect manatees in Alabama!

• Report manatee sightings to DISL’s Manatee Sighting Network via their online reporting system or toll-free at 1-866-493-5803.
• If you come in contact with a manatee give it space to ensure their safety. Do not do anything to alter manatees’ natural behavior. 
• Make a donation or shop the Manatee Sighting Network store!.
• Adopt Alabama manatee Bama through our partnership with Save the Manatee Club! 

Next up — Oysters

Our 3rd story in our series about animals on Alabama’s coast and bays that need our help for survival is one of Alabama’s favorite delicacies — the oyster.

If you missed our first story on sea turtles, be sure to check it out here.

Sponsored by: