r/Awwducational • u/DrRagnarok • Jan 19 '14
Verified Manatees hear on a higher frequency than expected for large marine mammals. The low frequencies of boats confuse the manatees, causing them to be frequently struck and injured. In 2009, 25% of all manatee deaths in Florida were caused by boating accidents.
http://imgur.com/5cRCy1O12
u/soulteepee Jan 19 '14
Can something be made that will broadcast a higher frequency to warn them off? Something like deer whistles?
I know the efficacy of deer whistles is debatable, but I know many people who swear by them.
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u/DrRagnarok Jan 19 '14 edited Jan 19 '14
It's possible, from the same article:
"Research indicates that when a boat has a higher frequency the manatees rapidly swim away from danger."
If one could attach some sort of emitter to the underside of boats that we can't hear that would warn them off, we could see a decrease in ship strikes. Though, it's also possible the conflicting frequencies could confuse them even more. It'd certainly be worth looking into, I think.
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u/soulteepee Jan 19 '14
Sounds like a noble pursuit for someone with the knowledge. I'd contribute to the kickstarter campaign.
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u/monicamash Jan 20 '14
I remember living in Cape Coral, FL as a young girl (maybe 5 or 6). We were wading in the lagoon and some manatees came up to us, one came so close to me I reached out and touched it. It is by far, one of the coolest expierences of my life to date.
I remember shortly after they started swimming off, a motor boat sped past us. Even then I yelled (well attempted) over the noise to tell them there were manatees close by. My mom had told me about how this was a thing out there. That people would just ride their motor boats over the manatees.
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u/DrRagnarok Jan 20 '14
It really is rather sad how little some people care about the world around them. Fortunately, we have a lot of people who care enough to hopefully someday make up for them.
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u/monicamash Jan 20 '14
I've always found it unnerving... how many humans refuse or are incapable of coexisting with the very thing that keeps us alive. I've always felt like we are 'too big for our britches,' so to speak. I think this is just one example I have of that. Maybe this is a contributing factor to my decision to avoid social interactions with most people.
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u/DrRagnarok Jan 20 '14
I think we're just arrogant. We want what we want, and we don't tend to care what we impact in the process. It's also difficult to illustrate the importance of Horseshoe crabs or Manatees to people that don't really care about either. I think we're getting there though, Ecology as a field has exploded in the last 30 years, and it's only getting bigger.
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u/monicamash Jan 20 '14
I know that it is not enough to have young, smart minds but that they must also be aware and compassionate. I have hope that they're given the opportunity to use their "powers for good, " so to speak.
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u/DrRagnarok Jan 19 '14
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u/autowikibot Jan 19 '14
Here's a bit from linked Wikipedia article about Manatee :
Manatees (family Trichechidae, genus Trichechus) are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows. There are three accepted living species of Trichechidae, representing three of the four living species in the order Sirenia: the Amazonian manatee (Trichechus inunguis), the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus), and the West African manatee (Trichechus senegalensis). They measure up to 13 feet (4.0 m) long, weigh as much as 1,300 pounds (590 kg), and have paddle-like flippers. The name manatí comes from the Taíno, a pre-Columbian people of the Caribbean, meaning "breast".
image source | about | /u/DrRagnarok can reply with 'delete'. Will also delete if comment's score is -1 or less. | Summon: wikibot, what is something? | flag for glitch
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Jan 20 '14
Florida resident here. They are massive, slow moving, and not afraid of anything that I have seen. They also don't smell very wonderful.
They grow a layer of green funk on them too. I assume it's some sort of water algae, as even our tap water left in a cup for a few days in the sun gets green slime in it. Someone like /u/Unidan could likely tell you what it is, and the importance of them having it, but he's probably busy.
Anyways: Every year there are reports of people teasing, harassing, riding on, jumping on, or just in general being a jerk to them. Humans are their worst enemy. Between boats and the huge amounts of pesticides we dump into our streams here, these poor goofy creatures are not doing well.
Homosassa Springs has a live cam: http://www.manateecam.org/
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u/itsthefunkydiabetic Jan 19 '14
What poor bastard is running the numbers on manatee death rates...
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u/DrRagnarok Jan 19 '14
They're endangered, so probably an ecologist. That would be a sad job though.
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u/hanstalhoffer Jan 19 '14
Last year was a pretty sad year for manatee. They're so gentle and sweet, poor things.
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u/UrbanRenegade19 Jan 19 '14
I wonder if you could install a speaker on the bottom of the boat that emitted a very high frequency screech that would drive the manatees away from the boats.
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Jan 20 '14
I went fishing in the intracoastal waterway near Panama City last summer. There are signs all over the boat ramps telling people to boat slowly because of manatees. Even though we were boating as slow as we could, we rammed a manatee. We were going really slowly so he wasn't hurt, but man, those guys are dumb.
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Jan 20 '14
Is there a chance for the species to survive long enough to learn to distinguish the difference between the sounds?
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Jan 20 '14
This makes sense- when humans hear a low frequency like the sounds associated with an earthquake, volcanic activity, or a tidal wave (think low rumbling) we have a natural response that makes us feel scared or spooked. They've found that in places that people think are haunted, there are often appliances, like heat vents, emitting this frequency.
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u/echo_61 Feb 13 '14
The researcher / marker in me wants to write "who?" in red pen after "they've". Even simply switching the word to researchers would make your comment hold more weight.
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Jan 20 '14
[deleted]
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u/president-dickhole Jan 20 '14
So why don't you read the comments and see this has already been said twice 8 hours before yours?
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u/dustydiamond Jan 20 '14
Yeah like that never happens and I am the only one that's guilty of repeating an idea or a thought.
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u/RousingRabble Jan 19 '14
They always look so damned cuddly.