On January 7, international environmental ambassador Miss Earth 2021 Destiny Wagner of Belize joined our two most recent USA national ambassadors Lindsey Coffey and Marisa Paige Butler during an ecotourism visit to Florida.
B4AC invited the three celebrity activists to experience a manatee sighting kayaking excursion at Blue Spring Park, Florida. This event was held in partnership with the Beauties for a Cause charity gala fundraiser to support Save the Manatee.
While the visitors were only allowed a distanced view of the manatees swimming and feeding in their natural habitat, they learned some important facts about these gentle creatures that frequent the southeast United States waters.
West Indian manatees are large, gray aquatic mammals measuring on average 10 feet long and weighing up to 1,200 pounds. The manatee’s closest relatives are the elephant and the hyrax (a small, gopher-sized mammal). Manatees can be found in shallow, slow-moving rivers, estuaries, saltwater bays, canals, and coastal areas, particularly where seagrass beds or freshwater vegetation flourish.
Listed as threatened at the federal level by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and at the state level by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, Florida has declared manatees as the official state marine mammal. More than 41% of manatee deaths are human-related and increasingly they are suffering starvation due to changes in climate killing off their main source of food.
B4AC USA will be contributing $1,000 to Save the Manatee and adopting three manatees each in the name of Destiny, Marisa and Lindsey.
Photos and Video by Reza Venegas and Adventures in Florida
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