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BREVARD MANATEE ZONE SIGNS BEING
REPAIRED/REPLACED
November 18, 2006
CONTACT: Dawn Griffin (850) 488-5600
At long last, manatee protection zone signs in
Brevard County damaged by hurricanes, deteriorated from age or
subjected to vandalism are being repaired or replaced by Florida
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) marine
contractors.
The work is taking place in Mosquito Lagoon, and
the Indian and Banana rivers, and should be finished in
February.
Boater non-compliance has been high in Brevard
County waters where manatee zone signs have been damaged or
don’t exist. Up to now, FWC officers have written a significant
number of warnings to boaters who ignore or don’t know the
rules. But that will change once the signs are repaired and in
place. Instead of warnings, boaters who violate the rules will
get tickets.
“By making these repairs and corrections, we
hope to alleviate confusion and achieve improved boater
understanding within the zones,” FWC Officer Jeff Luce said.
Preliminary data indicates that Brevard County
has had an unusually high number of manatee deaths caused by
watercraft this year (20 incidents through the end of October),
and low compliance within the protection zones could be a
factor.
Boaters are responsible for knowing the rules of
the waterways whether there are signs up or not. They also are
responsible for knowing what is going on in front of, alongside
and behind their vessels. This time of year, manatees are on the
move looking for warmer waters, and it’s critical for boaters to
keep an eye out for them to avoid colliding with the slow-moving
sea mammals.
Maps of the FWC manatee protection zones in
Brevard County as well as other parts of Florida are at
MyFWC.com/psm/gis/mapref.htm.
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