On March 14th, 2015 Diane Claridge took photographs of “Gina” that confirmed her pregnancy. With the help from the Spanish Wells and Harbour Island communities, we received continuous reports on Gina which showed that she was doing well. On July 2nd, 2015 BMMRO received a Facebook video on The Bahamas Manatee Club page of a manatee and calf. The video had been taken a week before and was too distant to identify Gina. However, on July 10th, 2015 BMMRO received a report from Shane Gross of Harbour Island who has been assisting with manatee work, that Gina and her calf were sighted at a dock in Harbour Island (see photo). Shortly after, Gina traveled to Spanish Wells where she has remained since.
In the last blog, “Randy” was reported last seen in Grand Bahama. Since then, Randy has returned to Sandy Point, traveled along the eastern coast of Abaco and is currently in Hope Town. Before his arrival in Hope Town, Randy spent a period of time in Marsh Harbour with an unknown manatee that has been assumed to be female (pictured below). BMMRO has collected excellent body and paddle identification photos, but has not been able to sex the unknown manatee. Randy is still in Hope Town currently, but the unknown manatee has moved from this location. BMMRO is patiently waiting to receive sightings on this new animal again.
Manatee Club: On March 12th, 2015, BMMRO created a manatee club on Facebook. “Bahamas Manatee Club” has been gaining members and has been a successful tool in educating the Bahamas on manatees and manatee conservation. Members have been reporting sightings regularly and assisting with conserving the manatee population in The Bahamas. Now that school has re-commenced, Felice Knowles plans to utilize the club to get school kids involved actively throughout the semester.
