March 28, 1996 - Our Sojourn With the Sea Cows1W iCh'28, 199e • The SufFolk'Timbs $'A
Our Sojourn With the Sea Cows
Every day when I go on manatee
watch from 8 to 11 a.m. there seems to
be something different to see. Just the
other day we had the fun of watching a
family of river otters. These sleek,
brown -to -black animals with their big
whiskers and padded feet seem almost
all tail. They have a streamlined appear-
ance from the tip of their inquisitive
nose to the end of their long pointed tail.
Out of water they lope along in fluid
movement that mimics ..�...�.
their rolling motion when �O'
they are in the water.
They're a pure joy to see as O
they slip into the water
without making the slight- pal
est splash. Once in, they
disappear and reappear like by
magic. stoats
This particular family had
caught a catfish and one of the young
was thoroughly enjoying it. It chewed it
like a dog chewing a bone; bone and all
went down. As I looked at it through my
binoculars I could see its sharp white
teeth that make it such an efficient preda-
tor.
The group put on a wonderful show
and in no time there were many clicking
cameras and excited campers. River ot-
ters can be found almost anywhere there
are still unpolluted waters and a sense of
wildness. We found a carcass of a river
otter on our sound shore some years ago.
It was speculated that it had somehow
come down one of the many rivers
across from Long Island and found its
way to our shore. The only other report
of an otter I can remember was one
briefly seen at Mashomack on Shelter
Island. The ones last week, like all ot-
ters, were playful animals, rolling and
diving before us, and then they slithered
up on the rocks below to rest and preen
themselves in the warm sun.
As I write in the camper I see a log-
gerhead shrike building its nest in a
nearby tree. It's very similar to the
northern shrike we have at home, only
here the loggerhead shrikes are very
common. This black - and -white bird with
its hawklike bill is a bit smaller than a
robin and is a fierce predator. Most of its
diet consists of insects like grasshoppers,
beetles, etc., but often it will catch mice
or even small birds. When this happens,
as I've mentioned in previous articles, it
hangs its prey on the thorn of a tree and
eats it at will. This habit of saving its
food gives it the nickname "butcher
bird" after the practice of butchers hang-
ing their meat in a cooler for later use.
I've been mentioning manatees in my
nmwnm� writings down here so I
thought it might be of
Us interest to review just
n what a manatee is and
why they are becoming an
ue� endangered species.
Actually we've been hav-
laul ing good luck pho-
aburgh tographing these mana-
tees here in southwest
Florida. It's quite a thrill to see them up
close. They appear like something out
of step with today's world. Like the ar-
mor- plated armadillos that are so com-
mon around the campground, they seem
to belong to a prehistoric time. The
manatee's closest relatives are the ele-
phants. They came on the scene just
about when the dinosaurs disappeared
some 60 million years ago. Someone
aptly described the manatee as a huge,
smiling potato with flippers. And big
they are, for the average adults are 10
feet in length and weigh 1,000 pounds.
Whenever we see them, they seem to
be moving in a slow undulating pattern
and rise to the surface
slowly. Their pudgy,
whiskered nose with
its two big nostrils
breaks the surface to
capture the life -giv-
ing breath of air, giv-
ing us a chance to see
them, then they drift
below where they
will stay for another
three to five minutes before surfacing
again. It's in this short breathing spell
that we try to capture them on film so
they can be identified and later tracked.
Some have horrible slashes from pro-
MO(D DY tSarDara woutenuuryn
MANATEES — Usually we think of manatees as being found in the south,
but if you remember, last summer one was reported as far north as
Connecticut.
pellers, others have miscellaneous mark-
ings that help researchers recognize
them individually. Many have huge
gashes out of their tails that really stand
out. All are recorded, and numbers cata-
logued. Of course, there are the few
lucky ones that go unscathed, but with
over 1,000 people moving into Florida
each day and 85 percent of those settling
on or near the water, you can see why
man and manatee are
on a collision course.
Manatees have no
natural predators and
when the white man
first arrived on these
shores they were a
common sight. The
few manatees taken
for food by the natives
who lived off them
hardly made a dent in their population,
but with the guns and boats of a new
age, their numbers started to dwindle.
Now with the ever - increasing population
growth of Florida and the habitat
Like the armor - plated
armadillo, manatees
appear to be some-
thing out of step with
today's world.
* x.10. ff ....ism m `�§=
75 Years Ago
March 25, 1921
New Roads Planned: The Southold Town Board
met-at the office of Supervisor Tuthill in Greenport Satur-
day, March 19. Consent of the Town Board was given to
use of $1,300, or so much thereof as is necessary, from the
miscellaneous fund to build two new roads — Bailey
Avenue at Greenport and Lupton Avenue at Mattituck.
Weather Breaks Records: The weather this
month has broken all previous records for heat. In New
York on March 21, the thermometer registered 80 degrees,
the highest temperature registered in March since the
Weather Bureau was established in 1910. In Greenport var-
ied reports have been received, but we know that on Mon-
day the mercury hovered well up in the 90s during the mid-
dle of the day.
50 Years Ago
March 29, 1946
Disarm Firearms: Guns which were brought back
from Germany and Japan by returning soldiers as souvenirs
must be made nonserviceable or those having them in their
possession may be fined $2,000 or sent to jail. Federal rep-
resentatives for the enforcement of this will be at Southold
Town Hall on Thursday, April 4.
The national firearms act provides for the registration of
these firearms and transfer of them is illegal without pay-
ment of a $200 tax. However, after the firearm is rendered
nonserviceable it may be transferred tax -free upon submis-
sion of proper forms.
25 Years Ago
March 26, 1971
At Last, a Master Planl: Seven years and five
informational meetings after the rust steps were taken
toward the creation of guidelines for the development of the
Town of Southold over the next 15 years, a Master Plan and
map have been approved by the town Planning Board.
"I am greatly relieved," said chairman of the Planning
Board John Wickham after the board had formally accepted
the Master Plan at a special session held Tuesday evening.
The next step now is implementation of the plan with
ordinances. The Town Board is working on that now. After
the ordinances and map have been drawn up, the Town
Board will send both on to the Suffolk County Planning
Commission for review before hearings in the town and
finally Town Board approval.
Peeonic County Moves Forward: Another step
in the creation of Peconic County was taken in the State
Legislature Tuesday when the Assembly approved the bill
to remove the constitutional requirement of approximately
125,000 population (enough for one Assembly seat) before
a new county can be formed.
The bill seeks to split the five East End towns from the
rest of Suffolk County. It has yet to be approved in the Sen-
ate.
destruction for waterfront homes and the
high -speed boats that go along with this
"progress," the future of these slow -
moving, endearing mammals looks
doubtful. Of course, they have been put
on the endangered species list, but so far
nothing has slowed down their demise.
They graze on aquatic plants and grasses
and help rid the waterways of the pesky
water hyacinth that is a plague to boaters
down here. This half -ton mammal is not
at all aggressive and harms no one.
Mother and Calf Cooperative
One of the greatest days we bad pho-
tographing was when a mother and calf
came through the locks. It happened
when there was little or no boat traffic
and as they waited for the locks to open
and let them through, half the camp-
ground came to watch. And how she and
her little one performed! Rather than go
down and stay under after they came up
for air, the mother laid on top of the
water, her back partly exposed to the
warming sun. While she was in this
relaxed position with her baby alongside
of her, the crowd watched with interest
from above.
One of the reasons that manatees are
decreasing in alarming numbers is that a
female doesn't have young until she's
three to five years old, and then she only
has one. So the end result is that they are
dying faster than they can reproduce.
Manatees are one of Florida's big at-
tractions. Many of the counties' license
plates have a picture of a manatee on
them. There are sightseeing manatee -
watching boats similar to the whale -
watclung boats out of Montauk, but here
on a smaller scale. In parts of Florida
there are warm, crystal -clear springs that
attract thousands of people to see these
lovable creatures that are attracted to
these warm waters in cold weather.
There's even a large generating plant
where the warm discharge water has cre-
ated a manatee sanctuary where people
can go during the cold snaps down here
and be almost guaranteed sightings of
manatees.
It seems no matter where we go —
north, south, east or west — we see our
wildlife under siege.
Thursday means
The Suffolk Times