Does Save the Manatee Club support the use of propeller guards to help protect manatees?
A. Save the Manatee Club is in favor of prop guards, and there are a number of manufacturers of them in Florida. However, most manatee deaths caused by watercraft collisions are from the actual impact of the boats hull striking the manatee rather than from propeller injuries. Therefore, although we support prop guards, we don’t want people to think they are a “cure-all” to the problem. Because manatees generally travel about 3-5 miles per hour and can travel up to only 20 mph in short bursts, Save the Manatee Club supports slow speed zones in areas where manatee travel has been documented. However, on large vessels such as tug boats and freighters, propeller guards would certainly decrease the likelihood of manatee mortality. These types of boats are already going slow, but the props are so large that manatees can get pulled in and chopped up. Prop guards would help decrease manatee mortality in these cases.
A. We agree that propeller guards are a good idea to protect manatees, but only if used along with other protection measures, such as boat speed zones and habitat protection. The use of prop guards has been suggested as a way to reduce manatee mortality for several years. But prop guards alone are not a solution. The majority of manatees killed by boats are killed by collision with the boat hull. According to statistics collected by the Florida Marine Research Institute (FMRI), 60 percent of manatee deaths are caused by hull impact, and 40 percent are caused by propeller wounds. Prop guards on fast-moving boats can kill or injure manatees through blunt trauma; just as a collision with the boat hull can be fatal. Also prop guards used in shallow water could dredge the bottom and damage sea grasses that manatees eat. The bottom line — it is the speed of the vessel that kills. If prop guards were made mandatory along with additional boat speed zones, an adequate enforcement effort, and e
