At its core, Sea to Shore is essentially a network of specialists and scientists working to find solutions that will reduce threats to endangered aquatic species and to protect or restore their habitats. To this end, we work extensively with a network of Partners, and work to build solid Partnerships

Manatee Rehabilitation Partnership (MRP)

Each year many manatees are injured or become sick and must be rescued and treated at critical care facilities such as SeaWorld, Lowry Park Zoo or Miami Seaquarium. Exposure to red tide, cold stress, and disease are all natural problems that can affect manatees. Man-made threats include boat strikes, crushing by flood gates or locks, and entanglement in or ingestion of fishing gear. Sea to Shore Alliance is a member of the Manatee Rehabilitation Partnership (MRP), a unique group of private, non-governmental and governmental agencies who pool resources to rehabilitate manatees and release them back into the wild. Once a rehabilitated manatee is medically cleared to be released, S2S is responsible for tracking and monitoring them in the wild. By doing so, we help to ensure their well-being and the information we collect is used to improve protocols and pre-release training of manatees to improve their chances of survival in the wild. The Sea to Shore Allliance is a proud member of the Manatee Rehabilitation Partnership (MRP). You can follow the movements, stay updated on the progress of the MRP released manatees, and learn more about MRP by visiting Wildlifetracks.org

Dauphin Island Sea Lab

Sea to Shore partners with Dr. Ruth Carmichael and the Dauphin Island Sea Lab to support their manatee research program in Mobile Bay, Ala. Sea2Shore is assisting Dr. Carmichael and her team by providing many years of manatee research experience as DISL builds the first manatee research initiative in Alabama. In September 2009, together with SeaWorld of Florida, Sea2Shore biologists traveled to Alabama and guided a manatee tagging expedition that resulted in two manatees being radio tagged. The data from the study will be used to obtain a better understanding of manatee use of the Mobile Bay and critical habitat. Information generated from the study will aid federal and state authorities to develop conservation actions in the region.

Belize Coastal Zone Management Authority and Belizian Government

In 1997, Buddy Powell, Bob Bonde of USGS and Nicole Auil of the Belize Coastal Zone Management Authority who is now an Associate Scientist of S2S, began the Belize manatee conservation project. Belize has the highest known density of Antillean manatees, a subspecies of the West Indian manatee, in the world. Unfortunately, because of rapidly increasing coastal development, human related manatee deaths are rising quickly. Poaching, once the major threat to manatees in Belize, has been replaced by boat kills and destruction of habitat as the most major concerns for the survival of the species. S2S scientists and collaborators provide the data, expertise and scientific exchange that are used by the Belize government to establish sanctuaries, speed zones and other actions that help ensure the survival of manatees in this remarkable country.

University of Havana's Center for Marine Investigations and the Cuban Enterprise for Flora and Fauna

Very little is known about manatees in Cuba though it has some of the most extensive and best manatee habitat in the Caribbean. In 2001, Dr. Buddy Powell began a long-term initiative to develop and strengthen a manatee research and conservation program in Cuba. Working in collaboration with Wildlife Trust (WT), the University of Havana's Center for Marine Investigations, the Cuban Enterprise for Flora and Fauna and under a license from the US Treasury Department, Buddy has facilitated surveys in various sections of the island and helped to facilitate manatee research and conservation initiatives. In 2004 through Wildlife Trust (WT) and again in 2009, in cooperation with WT, S2S conducted a marine mammal necropsy workshop to provide expertise that will help Cuban biologists to identify causes of marine mammal and manatee mortality. The results have shown that a large number of manatee deaths are occurring due to drowning in trawling and netting activities. The Cuban government is using these data to adjust or eliminate netting in areas where it may be a threat to manatees. Buddy is supervising a Cuban Masters of Science student at the University of Havana, Annmari Alvarez Aleman, who is working on an in-depth manatee study on the Isle of Youth off the SW coast of Cuba. A Florida manatee with a young calf, first photographed by Buddy in Crystal River in 1979, was sighted and photographed by Annmari at a power plant east of Havana. This is the first record of a Florida manatee traveling to Cuba and suggests that there may be some population exchange between the two countries.

Additional Partners - Coming Soon!

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