Name: Collier County 2006-2008 Manatee Distribution Survey Observations
Display Field: SDATE
Type: Feature Layer
Geometry Type: esriGeometryPoint
Description: Aerial distribution surveys are used by marine mammal biologists from FWC and other agencies to determine the seasonal distribution of manatees. Most surveys are conducted from small, four-seat, high-winged airplanes (Cessna 172 or 182) flying at a height of 500-1000 ft at a speed of 70-90 kts. Small helicopters may be used instead of fixed wing aircraft in urban areas or where waters are particularly opaque and hovering may be required. Flights are usually 4–6 hours long and are most commonly flown every two weeks for two years. The surveys are designed to maximize the manatee counts by concentrating on shallow nearshore waters around the state where manatees and their primary food source, sea grasses, are located. Flight paths curve parallel to the shoreline, and the airplane circles when manatees are spotted until a count of the number of animals in each group is obtained. Offshore waters are usually not surveyed. Dolphin and sea turtle sightings are recorded opportunistically. All aerial data are recorded on paper maps and entered into a GIS shapefile for spatial analysis. GIS is a computer software system for representing data spatially and for conducting spatial analyses. Surveys of Collier County were flown twice a month from May 2006 to June 2008. FWC, Collier County and Ocean Conservancy staff members were observers for these flights, and dual observers (two observers, one in the front seat and one in the rear seat) were present on some or all of survey flights. The survey area includes the northern Collier County border south along the coast to Morgan Point and continuing back north to the Collier border.
Service Item Id: 52a71d18a9a841728295decb2fd868ca
Copyright Text: Flights were flown and data were collected by FWC, Collier County and Ocean Conservancy staff. Data were entered and verified by FWC staff. Use of these data must be credited in any reports or other written publications by the following sentence: "Manatee specific data used in analyses were collected under scientific research permit #MA773494 issued to FWC-FWRI."