58 Frank J. Schwartz 



RECENT NORTH CAROLINA OBSERVATIONS 



Manatees are now known (68 individuals from 59 sites) to fre- 

 quent nearly all North Carolina ocean and inland waters (Table 1, 

 Fig. 1). From 1977 to 1994, C. Beck (National Biological Service, 

 personal communication) reports three live and three dead manatees 

 from six sites between 1982 and 1990; Clark adds two additional live 

 individuals in 1982 and 1987 and the remaining 42 specimens (41 

 sites) are from my study (Table 1). All but four occurrences have 

 been of live specimens. Recent manatee sightings have been of sub- 

 adults or young about 1.8-2.4 m long (Table 1). None has been weighed. 

 Manatees have been recorded from 11 coastal North Carolina coun- 

 ties (Table 1); 15 occurrences have been in Carteret County, nine 

 each in Dare and New Hanover, and eight in Craven County. Most 

 sightings occurred in 1983 and 1994 (nine), five in 1976, and two to 

 four sightings during most other years. Sightings have occurred dur- 

 ing nine months of the year, mostly in September (14), followed by 

 eight in August and October (Table 1). Most often frequented locali- 

 ties have been: Pelletier Creek (six), a tributary to Bogue Sound at 

 Morehead City (Carteret County), various localities in the Atlantic 

 Ocean (6), four at Wrightsville Beach and Sound (New Hanover County), 

 and the Trent River near New Bern, North Carolina (8) (Craven County). 

 While Rathbun et al. (1981) noted that open ocean habitat occur- 

 rences are rare, four North Carolina records have been from inlet- 

 ocean sites and six in the open ocean. Of the latter, three ocean 

 occurrences were off Shackleford Banks (Carteret County), one off 

 Wrightsville Beach (New Hanover County), and one each off the 

 Outer Banks off Avon and Kitty Hawk (Dare County) (Fig. 1). Most 

 sightings have been of single individuals; the largest groups sighted 

 for several days before disappearing were three at Minnesott Beach 

 Yacht Basin, a tributary to the Neuse River (Pamlico River) in Au- 

 gust 1980, and three in the Trent River at the Sheraton Yacht Harbor, 

 New Bern (Craven County) in September 1994. 



Although six records are of manatees frequenting Pelletier Creek, 

 the area seems an unlikely manatee habitat as the short 0.8 km creek 

 is plied by many boats, pollution is heavy from numerous boat works 

 and marinas, and considerable runoff occurs from the densely built 

 houses and condominiums lining the shoreline. Yet manatees have 

 spent several days in the creek during each visit. In 1993 to 1994 two 

 (once) to six separate manatees frequented the same general area of 

 the coffee-colored Trent River, tributary to the Neuse River, 2 km 

 southwest of New Bern (Craven County) and fed on dense aquatic 

 vegetation. Three specimens frequented the river 0.2 km west of New 



