Join Katherine Sayler, our Southeast representative, at Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge to learn more about manatees and recent developments in the expansion of their habitat! Learn even more about Florida Manatees, here: https://defenders.org/coexisting-manatees
Transcript:
I’m Katherine Sayler, Southeast representative with Defenders Of Wildlife, here at the Florida Manatee Festival within Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge. I’m here today chatting with folks about the importance of protecting Florida manatees and their critical habitat. Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge is the only refuge created specifically for the protection of the Florida Manatee. Created in 1983, the refuge preserves Three Sisters Springs, the last unspoiled, undeveloped spring habitat in Kings Bay, which serves as a natural warm water refuge for wintering manatees, as opposed to an industrial warm water site like a power plant outflow that manatees sometimes utilize. The area surrounding the National Wildlife Refuge are developed, and the refuge provides a place to see native plant communities and view manatees safely without disturbing them or damaging the springs,
shoreline or vegetation from the refuge’s boardwalk. This National Wildlife
Refuge provides winter habitat for hundreds of manatees, and aids in protecting the species for the benefit of future generations. To learn more, go to defenders.org.
Defenders Of Wildlife works on the ground, in the courts, and on Capitol Hill to protect and restore imperiled wildlife and habitats across North America.
Defenders Of Wildlife
