Blogs
Celebrate International Manatee Day by helping Manatees near and far
Help manatees near and far on Tuesday, September 7th, International Manatee Day. Save the Manatee Club, the world’s leading manatee conservation organization, encourages boaters, homeowners, and caring manatee lovers to play a role in protecting manatees and their aquatic habitat.
At this time of year, manatees can be found in all kinds of waterways around the southeastern U.S., from freshwater rivers and lakes to saltwater coastal areas, estuaries, and canals. With the holiday weekend bringing busy boat traffic, boaters are urged to boat slowly in posted manatee speed zones and watch carefully for manatees on the move.
“Manatees prefer shallow waters that are rich with vegetation,” explains Patrick Rose, Aquatic Biologist and Executive Director for Save the Manatee Club. “When we are boating or recreating in their aquatic habitat, we must take care not to disturb them and especially not to hurt them.” Blunt impacts from accidental watercraft collisions are a leading cause of manatee injuries and mortalities in Florida.
However, it’s critical aquatic habitat loss that is the greatest long-term threat to the manatee’s survival. Save the Manatee Club asks homeowners to do their part to protect aquatic habitat by not fertilizing their yards, especially during the rainy summer season. Fertilizers and other yard chemicals can enter waterways and fuel the harmful algal blooms that kill seagrasses that manatees and other species need to survive. “What you put on your yard affects their lives,” says Rose.
Write to your elected officials to urge them to help manatees in Florida at savethemanatee.org/algae#tips, then learn more about manatees around the world. Save the Manatee Club donations have supported West Indian manatee conservation efforts in Belize, Mexico, and the Wider Caribbean as well as West African manatee research in Senegal and Cameroon. They have also sponsored rescues and health assessments for the elusive Amazonian manatee in Peru and Venezuela. Read more and donate to the International Rescue Fund at savethemanatee.org/international.
Responsible boaters, homeowners, and manatee advocates all play an important role in protecting manatees at home and abroad. Here’s a quick list of resources to review that can help anyone be a voice for imperiled manatees:
- Report sick, injured, orphaned, or dead manatees to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) by calling 1-888-404-3922 (FWCC). Watch informative videos and get resources for your state at savethemanatee.org/rescue.
- Obey posted speed zones, wear polarized sunglasses to reduce glare on the water’s surface, avoid boating over shallow areas and seagrass beds, stash your trash, and never touch, feed, or give water to manatees.
- Request free tip cards, waterproof boating banners, waterfront signage, and other resources from Save the Manatee Club at savethemanatee.org/resources.
- Take a break from fertilizer and learn other tips that reduce pollution at savethemanatee.org/algae.
- Educators – gear up for the school year with free materials and a virtual guest speaker presentation from Save the Manatee Club. Visit savethemanatee.org/education.
Blogs
Jeff chats to… Christopher Bartlett, MD of Indigo Safaris, about scuba diving in Dominica and Mexico (3 of 5)
In the third in this exclusive series of five videos, Jeff Goodman, Scubaverse Editor-at-Large, chats to Christopher Bartlett, Managing Director of Indigo Safaris, about their diving and wildlife adventures, and some of their top destinations. In this episode Christopher talks about Dominica and Mexico.
For more information, please visit www.indigosafaris.com
Rather listen to a podcast? Click on this link to listen HERE.
In this ongoing series, we speak to the people who run dive centres, resorts and liveaboards from around the world about their businesses and the diving they have to offer…
What is your name?
Pablo Calderon Cadiz
What is the name of your business?
Takata Experience
What is your role within the business?
Owner / General Manager
How long has the business operated for?
6 years
How long have you dived for, and what qualification are you?
I have been diving for 16 years; I am a PADI IDC Staff Instructor
What is your favorite type of diving?
I really enjoy all types of dive but deep dives and dives with crazy topography are by far my favourites.
If you could tell people one thing about your business (or maybe more!) to make them want to visit you what would it be?
We are a dive center and also a research center, so we merge both into one big idea. When you dive with us you also benefit the reef, as we put part of that money into our restoration program. We are also one of the only dive centers in the world that has a full research center working together with us. That’s why our official hashtag is #Divewithpurpose
What is your favorite dive in your location and why?
My favorite dive in Mahahual is Piratas, because of the beautiful topography and the amount of big animals you can see, such as turtles, manatees and sharks.
What types of diving are available in your location?
One of the best things about Mahahual is that there are dive sites for all levels, from shallow reefs with beautiful life to walls that can go down to 150 meters within 5 minutes from the shore. You can always choose what you want, if you are looking for biodiversity, topography, shallow sand patches or very deep walls, we have them all.
What do you find most rewarding about your current role?
The diving industry is an industry that is constantly evolving and from my role I am able to always bring that to Takata. I am always looking for ways to create a solid business culture, to make sure the people that work for us can always develop themselves from a professional perspective, but also from a personal one. We have created many different programs that are unique to us, where we merge the dive and research center. All that is possible because I can take those decisions. To see how your dream becomes true is the biggest reward ever.
What is your favorite underwater creature?
Sharks are my number 1, and if I can be more specific, Hammerheads!!!
As a center what is the biggest problem you face at the moment?
I feel that many dive centers in the world don’t know yet what makes them unique, so the way for them to attract people is to charge very low prices, sometimes that is very difficult, because the one that is next to you can charge 30% less than you for the ¨same service¨. I believe we should always find what is unique to us and to create a value on it. We should all focus on the professionalization of our industry.
Is your center involved in any environmental work?
As I mentioned before, we have a full research center, our director has 2 master degrees and our 2 biologist both have PhDs. Actually our research center was name as Actor for the UN Decade On Ecosystems Restoration for the next 10 years.
Our research center works together with the Mexican government to ensure a sustainable development in the area and to implement big scale conservation and restoration projects in Mahahual.
Are there any exciting changes / developments coming up in the near future?
As we are a new company, there are always exciting thing coming our way, in these years we became an IDC center, UN partners, we did a small hotel and we are looking forward to develop our research center even more. We would like to become the biggest research center in Mexico which is very ambitious and to become leaders in diving, restoration and everything that involve costal ecosystems. We dream big because we love what we do.
How do you see the SCUBA / Freediving / snorkeling industry overall? What changes would you make?
I think the industry is doing ok but not great. For sure freediving has grown a lot in the last 10-15 years. There are several organisations around the world who do great work, but we need more people and businesses looking to do the exceptional. Sometimes talking with diving friends around the world, we all agree that this is probably one of the few industries where the prices we charge are the same or even cheaper than 5 or 10 years ago. We urgently need to proprofessionalize the industry and put the correct value on our product and services.
Finally, what would you say to our visitors to promote the diving you have to offer?
If you guys are looking for a unique immersive experience where you can mix your passion for diving with deep understanding of marine and costal ecosystem, then we are your choice.
Where can our visitors find out more about your business?
You guys can follow us on IG: Takata.experience
Our website is: www.takataexperience.com
Relief Fund raises over $26k to support PADI Members impacted by recent Maui fires
Oonasdivers say Hola! to Mexico
Celebrate 20 years of Pro Dive International!
Re-introducing Humboldt Explorer – remodeled and ready for divers
Jeff chats to… Bill Beard and Vanessa Willing about diving in Costa Rica (Watch Video)
Scuba Diving in Mexico: Diving Cenote Angelita (Watch Video)
An American Diver (Watch Video)
Jupiter Shark Dive (Watch Video)
Jeff chats to… Christopher Bartlett, MD of Indigo Safaris, about scuba diving in Dominica and Mexico (3 of 5)
Manatee Madness
Jeff chats to… Bill Beard and Vanessa Willing about diving in Costa Rica (Watch Video)