50272 -1Q1 



REPORT DOCUMENTATION »■ Report no. 



page FWS/OBS-80/50 



3. Recipient's Accession No. 



4. Title and Subtitle 



Aerial Surveys for Manatees and Dolphins in Western Peninsular 

 Florida (With Notes on Sightings of Sea Turtles and 

 Crocodiles) 



5. Report Da.t 



ort Date 



April 1981 



7. Author(s) 



8. Performing Organization Rept. No. 



A. Blair Irvine, John E. Caff in and Howard I. Kochman 



9. Performing Organization Name and Address 



Gainesville Field Station 

 Denver Wildlife Research Center 

 412 N.E. 16th Avenue, Room 250 

 Gainesville, Florida 32601 



10. Project/Task/Work Unit No 



11. Contract(C) or Grant(G) No. 



[C) 



14-16-009-79-951 



(G) 



12. Sponsoring Organization Name and Address 



Bureau of Land Management and the 

 Fish and Wildlife Service 

 U.S. Department of the Interior 

 Washington, DC 20240 



13. Type of Report & Period Covered 



14 



15. Supplementary Notes 



16. Abstract (Limit: 200 words) 



Low altitude aerial surveys were conducted at approximately monthly intervals from 

 August to December 1979 to count West Indian manatees ( Trichechus manatus ) and 

 bottlenose dolphins ( Tursiops truncatus ) in western peninsular Florida. Sightings of 

 sea turtles, turtle tracks, and a crocodile were also noted. A total of 554 manatees 

 was observed in 297 groups. Fifty-eight percent of the manatees were sighted in the 

 Collier-Monroe Counties area in shallow, brackish inshore areas. A total of 1,383 

 bottlenose dolphins was observed in 431 herds, including 700 (in 146 herds) in the 

 Gulf of Mexico, 491 (in 185 herds) in bays, and 192 (in 100 herds) in marsh-river 

 habitats. Fifty-eight sea turtles (including 45 loggerheads, Caretta caretta ) and 

 30 sets of turtle tracks were counted. One crocodile, probably Crocodilus acutus, was 

 sighted in the Everglades National Park. 



17. Document Analysis a. Descriptors 



Dolphins (mammals), Aquatic animals, Turtles 



b. Identifiers/Open-Ended Terms 



Manatees, Crocodile, Florida, Loggerheads 



c. COSAT1 Field/Group 



18. Availability Statement 



Unlimited 



19. Security Class (This Report) 



Unclassified 



20. Security Class (This Page) 



21. No. of Pages 



21 



22. Price 



(See ANS1-Z39.18) 



See Instructions on Reverse 



OPTIONAL FORM 272 (4-77) 

 (Formerly NTIS-35) 

 Department of Commerce 



