Save the Manatee Club
Save the Manatee Club is an award-winning national nonprofit 501(c)(3) and membership-based organization established in 1981 by renowned singer/songwriter, Jimmy Buffett, and former U.S. Senator, Bob Graham, when he was governor of Florida.
Our Mission
Save the Manatee Club’s mission is to protect manatees and their aquatic habitat for future generations.
Our Objective
The Club’s objective is the recovery and protection of manatees and their aquatic ecosystems throughout the world.
Why We Need Your Support
Human activities are harming manatees, and only our compassion and action can protect them.
Manatees are Florida’s official state marine mammal. The IUCN World Conservation Union lists them as vulnerable at the international level. They are listed as threatened at the federal level by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and at the state level by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). Their listing status is largely due to human activity. Since record-keeping began in 1974, more than 41% of manatee deaths where the cause of death was identified were human-related—and almost 34% were due to watercraft collisions (the largest known cause of manatee deaths). With increased awareness, education, regulations, and enforcement, manatee deaths caused by humans could be substantially reduced, and the eventual recovery of the species could be realized.
Our Goals:
Protect and Recover Habitat
Protect and recover ample healthy habitat to support a stable or growing manatee population.
Reduce Harassment
Reduce manatee harassment, injuries, and deaths from human activity.
Ensure Protection
Ensure that sufficient regulatory protections have been adopted and are supported by a broad constituency to accomplish these goals for the present and foreseeable future.
OUR IMPACT
Rescue, Rehabilitation, and Return of Manatees to Natural Habitat
* Worked to ensure continued funding for Florida’s Critical Care Program so that sick, injured, and orphaned manatees could be rescued, rehabilitated, and returned to their natural habitat.
* Assisted with and documented manatee rescues and returns to the wild and participated in other work of the Manatee Rescue and Rehabilitation Partnership, including the continuation of our Fiscal Sponsorship for the program.
* Assisted with the largest number of manatees returned to the wild in one day in history at Blue Spring State Park in February 2023.
* Continued to co-lead the Manatee Observer Volunteer Program at Blue Spring State Park to prevent manatee harassment during the summer.
* Provided thousands of dollars worth of material goods, equipment, and supplies to acute and long-term manatee care facilities to ensure every manatee in need received the help they deserve.
International Rescue and Research
* Collaborated with Wildtracks, Belize’s only manatee rehabilitation facility. Sent funds, supplies, and essential equipment, much of it donated by SMC supporters through our Wish List, to assist their rescue and rehabilitation efforts.
* Provided funding to the African Marine Mammal Organization as a matching grant for the purchase of a conservation truck.
* Provided funding to the International Foundation for Nature & Sustainability in Mexico for replacement milk vital to the care of orphaned manatee Pompeyo.
Legal and Advocacy
* Worked in close cooperation with federal, state, and local governments to ensure that Manatee Protection Plans and rules were followed and improved.
* Tracked legislation and rule development and engaged with lawmakers to ensure that new regulations do not further harm manatees and their habitat.
* Continued reviews of and comments on a variety of marina development projects in important manatee habitat. Held applicants and agencies accountable under manatee and habitat protection laws.
* Garnered 194 pledges for the “Fertilizer-Free for Manatees” campaign via our website, and dozens more through event sign-ups.
Be Fertilizer-Free For Manatees
Nutrient pollution in Florida’s waterways is a critical problem, fueling repeated harmful algal blooms in coastal waters. In the Indian River Lagoon, a critical manatee habitat, such harmful algal blooms have destroyed native seagrass, resulting in the deaths by starvation of hundreds of manatees. An unprecedented 1,100 manatees died in Florida in 2021 and the trend has continued into 2022.
Together, we can protect these critical habitats for manatees, other aquatic life, and for our own future generations by reducing human sources of pollution such as fertilizers, improperly-treated sewage, leaking septic systems, and stormwater runoff. While Save the Manatee Club works with our partners to strengthen policies that protect water quality, the individual actions of each Florida resident can make a big difference for the health of our waterways. Do your part: take the pledge to be Fertilizer-Free for Manatees!
Adopt-A-Manatee®
Symbolically adopt or renew an adoption of a real manatee for yourself or as a gift, starting at as little as $25 per year! The manatees in our program are real, living manatees with known histories, and funds go toward efforts to help protect imperiled manatees and their aquatic habitat. No matter which manatee you choose to adopt, adopting one helps all manatees.
If you’d prefer not to adopt online, you can send an adoption application by mail or call us at 1 (800) 432-5646 to adopt over the phone with our team.
Membership Packet Materials
For as little as 7 cents a day you can help manatees! To show our appreciation for your support, every manatee adoption packet includes:
* A one-year membership to Save the Manatee Club.
* A membership handbook filled with photos, facts, and information. (With new adoptions)
* A biography and official adoption certificate of the manatee you choose.
* Our official newsletter, The Manatee Zone, four times a year.
* A FREE 2024 Save the Manatee Club Calendar, while supplies last.
* A FREE membership gift at the Friend level or above, listed below.
Adopt a Manatee Now…
Save the Manatee Club
317 Wekiva Springs Rd. Ste. 100
Longwood, FL 32779
Phone: 1-800-432-5646 | 407-539-0990
