Manatee County 2025-2026 Manatee Distribution Survey Observations

Aerial distribution surveys are used by marine mammal biologists from FWC and other agencies to determine the seasonal distribution of manatees. Most surveys are conducted from small, four-seat, high-winged airplanes (Cessna 172 or 182) flying at a height of 500-1000 ft at a speed of 70-90 kts. This survey was conducted by an aircraft mostly following a standardized, theoretical flight route, which was designed to cover likely manatee habitats in the study area. Some areas along the planned flight path may have been partially surveyed or not surveyed at all due to air traffic, weather, or other constraints present during individual surveys. See trackline metadata for details of flight path modifications. Flight paths curved parallel to the shoreline, and the airplane circled when manatees were spotted until a count of the number of animals in each group was obtained. Circling was limited to 3 passes unless a group was unusually large and aerial photos were used in some cases to confirm counts. Sightings data were recorded on paper maps and entered into a GIS shapefile for spatial analysis using NAIP imagery and recorded flight paths as a reference. GIS is a computer software system for representing data spatially and for conducting spatial analyses. This dataset includes recorded flight paths from 24 surveys flown on the following dates: 5 and 18 February 2025; 3 and 22 March 2025; 9 and 25 April 2025; 8 and 27 May 2025; 19 and 25 June 2025; 9 and 28 July 2025; 6 and 29 August 2025; 12 and 22 September 2025; 13 and 23 October 2025; 5 and 23 November 2025; 11 and 26 December 2025; and 9 and 23 January 2026. FWC and Mote staff members were the observers for these flights. The survey area includes coastal areas of Manatee County from Tampa Bay to the Sarasota County line, including the Gulf of America shoreline, the Manatee River and other smaller bays and estuaries.佛罗里达鱼类与野生动物保护委员会（Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 简称FWC）及其他相关机构的海洋哺乳动物生物学家，会开展航空分布调查以探明海牛的季节性分布格局。绝大多数调查采用四座小型上单翼飞机（赛斯纳172型或182型）执行，飞行高度设置为500至1000英尺，航速维持在70至90节。 本次调查所用航空器大多遵循标准化理论飞行航线，该航线旨在覆盖研究区域内潜在的海牛栖息生境。受空中交通、天气或单次调查期间出现的其他限制因素影响，规划航线沿线部分区域可能仅完成部分勘测，或完全未开展勘测。有关航线调整的详细信息，请参阅航线元数据。 飞行航线呈弧形，与海岸线平行布设；当发现海牛时，飞机会环绕盘旋，直至完成对每群动物数量的计数。除非群体规模异常庞大，否则盘旋次数限制为3次；部分场景下会使用航空照片辅助确认计数结果。 目击观测数据先记录于纸质地图，随后录入GIS形状文件，以北美航空影像计划（National Agriculture Imagery Program, 简称NAIP）影像与记录的飞行航线作为参考开展空间分析。该系统是一类可实现数据空间可视化并开展空间分析的计算机软件系统。 本数据集包含24次调查的记录飞行航线，对应执行日期如下：2025年2月5日、18日；2025年3月3日、22日；2025年4月9日、25日；2025年5月8日、27日；2025年6月19日、25日；2025年7月9日、28日；2025年8月6日、29日；2025年9月12日、22日；2025年10月13日、23日；2025年11月5日、23日；2025年12月11日、26日；以及2026年1月9日、23日。 本次飞行的观测人员为FWC与莫特海洋实验室（Mote）的工作人员。调查区域涵盖坦帕湾至萨拉索塔县界的马纳蒂县（Manatee County）沿海区域，包括美洲海湾沿岸、马纳蒂河及其他小型海湾与河口。