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MEDIA CONTACT: Andrew LaPlant
561-297-3022, alaplant@fau.edu
FAU Professor Helping Endangered Manatees
BOCA RATON, FL (October 27, 2004) - Florida Atlantic University Professor Edmund Gerstein has researched and developed an acoustic alerting device that he hopes will prove useful in saving the lives of manatees. Gerstein is trying to reduce the number of incidents in which a boat strikes a manatee by creating a device that would be placed on boats to alert manatees of approaching vessels.
"Manatees can't hear well or at all at low frequencies, and sound is hard to hear for them near the water's surface," said Gerstein. "Because of this, when boats slow down in a manatee protection zone, they are at greater risk of getting hit and injured."
Some manatees have been hit by boats or propellers nearly 50 times. These accidents affect the population, because of death or, in some cases, reproduction. Gerstein's research demonstrates that speed is not the central issue. Rather, it is a lack of sensory awareness that makes manatees vulnerable to boat collisions. Gerstein's research has been noted in many magazines and newspapers across the country, including American Scientist, the New York Times and Boating News.
Gerstein is a pioneer and an authority on the study of manatee hearing and bioacoustics. He is the first and only researcher to successfully measure the manatees hearing abilities. Gerstein's research documents the manatees overall hearing abilities, revealing an underlying sensory reason why manatees get hit repeatedly by boats.
"Back in 1989, manatees were thought to be dumb and slow, or boats were too fast," said Gerstein. "But now we know they have a fight or flight response and can travel up to 15 miles per hour for up to two minutes."
Gerstein is receiving funding from the United States Department of Defense, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Florida Inland Navigation District to help his research. Currently, he is waiting on a permit to test the alert device.
"I know when we test the device, there will be a positive result," said Gerstein. "An acoustic alerting device could give animals the opportunity to save themselves. The longer we wait, the worse it is for the manatees."
An authority on marine mammal behavior and the acoustics of ship and vessel collisions with whales, Gerstein will be kicking off the Frontiers in Science lecture series at FAU on Thursday, November 4 at 4:00 p.m. in the Room 126 of the Charles E. Schmidt Biomedical Center. The title of his talk is "Shadow of Death: The Acoustics of Ship Strikes." He will also give a talk entitled "Of Manatees and Men" at the Department of Psychology Cognitive Brown Bag series on Friday, November 12.
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