Meet the Manatee Expert

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  Paid subscribers only. Deadline February 21, 1997

Hi Students!

My name is Nancy Sadusky, and I'm the Communications Director for Save the Manatee Club in Maitland Florida. I'm the manatee "expert" who will be answering all your questions on manatees.

All my life, I have been interested in science and the environment AND the arts too. I grew up living near the woods in northern Minnesota. I used to go canoeing with my family in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota, and I still go camping and hiking whenever I can. Now that I live in Florida, I also like to visit the ocean and canoe on Florida's many beautiful waterways. I love to learn new things, and I love writing too! Right now I'm 36 years old, and I've been very lucky to combine my interests.

I have a bachelor's degree from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota in theatre and communications. About six years ago, I moved to Florida with my husband. For many years, I had worked as a publicist for theatre and film. When we moved to Florida, I decided to get involved in environmental work by volunteering at Save the Manatee Club. I learned all I could about manatees. Soon, I was producing the Club newsletter. Then I was doing their press releases and doing interviews with reporters. Before I knew it, I was the communications director for Save the Manatee Club!

Soon after I started volunteering at Save the Manatee Club, I made a trip up to Blue Spring State Park to see the manatees. Manatees are cold sensitive animals, and water temperatures below 68 degrees usually cause them to move into warm water refuge areas such as the natural spring at Blue Spring State Park. I had never seen a manatee before in my life. I was very excited about making the trip, and I was not disappointed. We got to the park early in the morning -- as soon as it opened. There was fog coming off the water. Other people had gathered at the lookout deck, located over the spring run. Onlookers in the crowd were speaking excitedly in low voices, pointing out the dark shapes in the water. Their whispers were offset by periodic exhalations as the manatees gradually rose for air and sunk slowly back to the bottom again. Later, as the weather warmed up, you could see the manatees well in the clear spring water, and they would float lazily by the lookout deck.

Through my work at the Club, I had come to know the descriptions of all the manatees in our Adopt-A-Manatee program. One manatee, named Phyllis, was the talk of the town because she had just brought a new set of twins into Blue Spring for the season. The birth of twins is rare for manatee females. They usually only have one calf, every two to five years. Suddenly, a female manatee came floating by with two calves. Each calf was tucked under her flipper, a sign that they were nursing. It was Phyllis! That was a special moment for me. Not only was I able to see the manatees, but I also got to see a manatee that I "knew." After that, I was hooked on manatees.

Since that time, I have learned even more about manatees, and I have been able to teach other people about manatees too. I produce an educator's guide and coloring and activity book on manatees that go out to teachers and students all across the United States and to some international teachers and students too. I also travel around Florida, conducting workshops for teachers to help them teach their students about manatees, and I give interviews to students when they are writing a report on manatees. I'm editor of the Club newsletter, and I write informational material on manatee issues that gets distributed to the public. I still continue to write press releases and give interviews to the media. I also produce radio and television public service announcements about manatees that are aired by radio and television stations.

Last year, I was excited to work on radio and television public service announcements that were recorded in Spanish by singer and activist Willie Colón. Manatees are found in South America and the wider Caribbean , and Save the Manatee Club is working with groups there to help protect manatees in those areas too. I hope these public service announcements will help make a difference.

My most recent project for Save the Manatee Club was to put together an Internet web site on manatees and Save the Manatee Club. It has been fun putting the site together and finding links to other pages that are good sources of manatee information. I've heard from people all over the world that have used the website. My hope is that the it will teach more people about manatees than ever before.

I'm looking forward to working with you and answering YOUR questions about manatees.

Nancy

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