|
“This manatee is going to die right in front of us and I’m not letting that happen!”
A few weeks ago when red tide levels were high, Deputy Jill Constant got a call from a woman who said there was something wrong with a manatee in the Intracoastal Waterway. Now, some calls from well-meaning citizens arise from misunderstanding manatee behavior – it is normal for them to swim into culverts, or for groups to thrash around in shallow water and partially beach themselves during mating season. But as soon as the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) Marine and Environmental Lands Unit deputy saw this manatee, she knew it was in deep distress.
“We’re watching it, and it will not go underwater. It just stayed at the surface with labored breathing.” When the exhausted manatee desperately tried to beach itself on the rocks so it wouldn’t drown, Deputy Constant knew she had to do something. “We docked the boat, I took off my equipment, and got in. We stayed in the water for two hours holding its head up until it could be rescued.” The manatee wasn’t thrilled about being rescued though. “At the end of the process it was not happy with us! At the beginning it was too exhausted, but after a while it had recovered its strength a little and it started thrashing. I thought I was going to drown – a martyr for the cause.” FWC biologists later responded, and it was believed the manatee would make a full recovery.
Deputy Constant’s passion for wildlife is the reason she’s in the Marine and Environmental Lands Unit. “I originally wanted to work for FWC or be a game warden in another state, but my heart was set on Florida, especially when I realized that PCSO has a marine unit – which is unique, because a lot of other agencies don’t have a marine unit that not only does marine safety, but also focuses on preservation and fishing. I wanted to work somewhere I could also do the wildlife side.”
Her brother is a charter captain on the Great Lakes in Michigan, taking people to fish for king salmon. “That’s what I grew up with. He’s somebody who is just so passionate about preserving the natural environment and preserving the numbers of king salmon. That was really instilled in me at an early age.” Now she plays her part not only in keeping Pinellas County waterways safe for humans but making sure that the animals and the ecosystems are preserved for generations to come.
Manatees are in special need of protection. There are only about 13,000 West Indian manatees left in the world, of which about 6-7,000 live in Florida. In 2022, some 1,000 of those died from boat strikes, red tide events, or starvation from habitat destruction. Manatees may be big – averaging 1,000 pounds but reaching 3,500 pounds – but they aren’t fat. Most of their bulk is stomach and intestines. Without the thick layer of blubber that other marine mammals like dolphins have, manatees are subject to cold stress. When the water temperature reaches 68 degrees their already slow metabolism slows even further and they can have symptoms such as malnutrition and skin sores. To avoid this, many manatees seek out freshwater springs in the winter, where the temperature is close to 72 degrees year-round. Now that the water is warm, though, manatees are back in the Gulf and the Intracoastal.
Most manatees, even young ones, have visible propeller marks from contact with boats. FWC looked at 10 years of information and found that 96 percent of manatees in that study had propeller scars. Boat strikes account for some 25 percent of all manatee deaths. Special zones in the Intracoastal regulate speed to help keep manatees safer from boat strikes. “It’s slow speed minimum wake in the manatee areas,” Deputy Constant said. “Some of the manatee speeds are year-round, such as the one at John’s Pass. In other areas, such as just south of the Corey Causeway, the manatee speeds are in effect April 1 through October 31.” Slow speed minimum wake means that the vessel must be completely off plane and fully settled in the water, producing minimal or no wake behind it.
Manatees are gentle, friendly animals that often approach swimmers or boaters. But even if they seek you out, touching them is against the law. You can’t feed them or even offer them a freshwater hose from your dock. Anything that interferes with a manatee’s natural, wild behavior can put it in danger. Molestation of manatees can be a felony, depending on the degree. “Education is our most powerful tool,” Deputy Constant said. “Most people out here do not have ill intent. They don’t want to hurt a manatee. People just get enamored of how sweet they are, how social they are, and they’ll come right up to you. But it’s that forbidden fruit. You can’t do it.”
Almost everybody cherishes manatees, but Deputy Constant also protects some of the overlooked species that are just as important to the health of the ecosystem. You can be licensed to collect up to 100 pounds of lightning whelks for personal consumption, but she found out that people were harvesting much more than this – and in the waters off Fort De Soto Park no less. When her sergeant asked her about it she said, “People are snailing sir – we have to do an operation!” So they set up an undercover operation and caught three people in one day. “I was the first person in the agency to make a snail case. I made a whole PowerPoint of the different species of snails to help the others with enforcement.”
Deputy Constant is an avid angler – her favorite species to catch is red drum – and a scuba diver. Sharks are her favorite marine animal, and on a recent vacation she dove with sharks every day. While on patrol at night it isn’t uncommon for her to see 10-foot bull sharks or even hammerheads approach her boat, but the sharks people most often see around here are bonnetheads, harmless sharks that look like baby hammerheads and are usually less than three feet long. They’re often unintentionally caught while inshore fishing. Most people think of sharks as pure carnivores, but bonnethead sharks are actually omnivores, with sea grass making up about 60 percent of their diet (with crabs, shrimp, and snails comprising the rest.)
Deputy Constant protects Shell Key Preserve from marauding dogs, and keeps people off designated bird islands covered in mangroves where pelicans, egrets, and pink roseate spoonbills make a cacophony of prehistoric sounds as they raise fuzzy chicks that look like Muppets. But she also performs traditional law enforcement duties, arresting boaters under the influence who put lives in danger, and stepping into the middle of domestic disputes at sea. “You have a lot of freedom out here – some people in the unit don’t have as much of an interest in fishing and wildlife, but they love enforcing boating safety and investigating BUIs. You can find your niche out here, and for me it is fish and wildlife.”
| 
