The NWS is using the holiday season, when everyone is distracted, to sneak through significant new restrictions on diving with manatees in Three Sisters Spring at Crystal River, probably the very best of all manatee viewing sites. They are using an little publicized 14 day comment period, instead of the usual mandatory 30 days, to minimize input. Even worse, they are having the 14 days run through the holiday season, when people are distracted and not paying attention, to hope their efforts go unnoticed and unopposed. The last day for comments is Jan 2, for cryiin' out loud!
The major restrictions are as follows:
1. Closure of the vast majority of Three Sisters to any snorkeling, crowding visitors into a tiny area in the center where any interactions will be difficult to impossible and the crowds unmanageably packed together.
2. Limiting hours for diving to 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. This is tantamount to making any interactions almost impossible as it is well known that the manatees leave the springs by or before 10:00 to feed. This is the reason the early morning trips have always been the only ones worthwhile for many years.
3. Eliminating any flash photography. Three sisters has the clearest water and the best backgrounds both above and below the surface, and eliminating fill flash will prohibit serious and responsible photographers from obtaining optimum artistic images. Amazingly, in all the lengthy rationale for the new regulations, there is not one single mention of any observed instance or researched evidence that photography has disturbed the manatees in the slightest. The limit on flash photography is without any explanation whatsoever in the report.
The goal of the regulations is to reduce crowding by swimmers and kayakers (kayaks will be absolutely prohibited in the spring run and springs). While increasing crowds have become a problem, to be sure, it is still a fact that no manatees are harmed by the current regime, The main problem is untrained and thrashing swimmers who cannot control their actions in the water. This can be addressed by limiting the number of people (perhaps permits to boats on a rotating basis with visitors required to go with a licensed operator). However, What is proposed now essentially will make Three Sisters an undesirable and unproductive place for manatee observation and interaction.
PLEASE COMMENT AGAINST THESE EXTREME REGULATIONS
Fish and Wildlife Service News Release System
The major restrictions are as follows:
1. Closure of the vast majority of Three Sisters to any snorkeling, crowding visitors into a tiny area in the center where any interactions will be difficult to impossible and the crowds unmanageably packed together.
2. Limiting hours for diving to 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. This is tantamount to making any interactions almost impossible as it is well known that the manatees leave the springs by or before 10:00 to feed. This is the reason the early morning trips have always been the only ones worthwhile for many years.
3. Eliminating any flash photography. Three sisters has the clearest water and the best backgrounds both above and below the surface, and eliminating fill flash will prohibit serious and responsible photographers from obtaining optimum artistic images. Amazingly, in all the lengthy rationale for the new regulations, there is not one single mention of any observed instance or researched evidence that photography has disturbed the manatees in the slightest. The limit on flash photography is without any explanation whatsoever in the report.
The goal of the regulations is to reduce crowding by swimmers and kayakers (kayaks will be absolutely prohibited in the spring run and springs). While increasing crowds have become a problem, to be sure, it is still a fact that no manatees are harmed by the current regime, The main problem is untrained and thrashing swimmers who cannot control their actions in the water. This can be addressed by limiting the number of people (perhaps permits to boats on a rotating basis with visitors required to go with a licensed operator). However, What is proposed now essentially will make Three Sisters an undesirable and unproductive place for manatee observation and interaction.
PLEASE COMMENT AGAINST THESE EXTREME REGULATIONS
Fish and Wildlife Service News Release System
