Florida Manatees, Trichechus manatus 



(Sirenia: Trichechidae), 



in North Carolina 1919-1994 



Frank J. Schwartz 



Institute of Marine Sciences 



University of North Carolina 



Morehead City, North Carolina 28557 



ABSTRACT— Florida manatees, first reported in 1919 from North 

 Carolina, are now known to have frequented 59 sites (68 indi- 

 viduals) during the period of 1919-1994. All but two have 

 been subadults of about 1.8-2.4-m lengths. Only seven deaths 

 have been recorded. Eleven coastal counties have harbored manatees. 

 Four occurrences have been at inlets and six in the open ocean. 

 Pelletier Creek, a Carteret County tributary of Bogue Sound, 

 along with the Atlantic Ocean have been the most frequented 

 sites (6); eight manatees occurred at a lush vegetation site in 

 the Trent River (Craven County), a tributary of the Neuse 

 River. Four records came from Wrightsville Beach and Sound, 

 three manatees entered the state from Chesapeake Bay via the 

 canal and Intracoastal Waterway into Currituck Sound. Farthest 

 inland river penetrations have been 94.4 km, 6.4 km north of 

 Wilmington; 92 km, Neuse River at Fort Barnwell Bridge, 33 

 km northeast of New Bern (Craven County); and one each 

 penetrated the Tar River at Washington (58 km, Beaufort County) 

 and Greenville (88 km, Pitt County). The increased frequency 

 of occurrences in later years may be the result of an in- 

 creased public awareness of the federally-protected species rather 

 than a seemingly increasing population. 



The Florida manatee, Trichechus manatus, can attain a size of 

 4.1 m, 1,620 kg, and ranges from Maryland (Chester River, Chesapeake 

 Bay) to Louisiana in the northern Gulf of Mexico (C. Beck, National 

 Biological Service, personal communication; Jefferson et al. 1993). 

 Northernmost manatee records in North Carolina have been in 

 Currituck Sound (Dare County) (Brimley 1905, 1946; Brimley 1931; 

 Caldwell and Golley 1965) (Table 1, Fig. 1). My study summarizes 

 early records, adds 44 new records (total 59) and comments on where, 

 when, and what size manatees have occurred in North Carolina. 



Brimleyana 22:53-60, June 1995 53 



