ALERT: New photo restrictions at Crystal River Three Sisters

Please see my post at Scubaboard re major restrictions on manatee photography at the very best spot in the world, Three Sisters Spring at Crystal River, These are being rushed through in secret with a shortened comment period over the holidays, with comments due by January 2.

My post is at scubaboard in the Florida diving sub-forum.

For some reason, this site would not allow me to cut and paste the text here, is there any reason why or what do I need to do?

Guy.

I have submitted my comments, I think that eliminating the use of strobes is taking it a little far. I've never seen the manatees be bothered by strobes anytime that I have worked with them. Glad I'm going this weekend before the new laws take effect

When would these restrictions come into effect? As we will be there mid January next year.

Cheers,

Nigel

Nigel-Have look here:

http://wetpixel.com/articles/wildlife-service-closes-three-sisters-springs-and-releases-proposed-managem

The changes are supposed to come in on 2 January, so they will affect you.

I have written too.

The issue, as I see it, is that the proposals do not address the actual problem, namely high-speed motorized boat traffic.

Instead, they crowd more people into a smaller area for less time. Any manatees that are in the publicly accessed area will be mobbed!

Photographically, the restriction on early morning and late afternoon is the biggest issue. Strobes and flashes are probably a smaller problem photographically, although I also note that in the entire proposal document there is no scientific justification for restricting their use. As is so often the case, wildlife managers are going on a "gut" instinct that flashes are in some way harmful, rather than any properly researched argument.

In order for there to be continued positive manatee-human interactions, there needs to be robust enforcement, not restrictions.

The address to email your concerns to is : crystalriver@fws.gov

Adam

Thanks Adam,

The comment period ends Jan 2 (the sneaky part--at least 4 days out of the 14 day comment period are wasted due to holidays) but the FWS site indicates they will implement no later than Jan 15, so yes this will affect all of us.

Adam,

Thanks for the information, we will just have to work with whatever restrictions they put in place, just hope that it benefits the manatees, but it doesn't really sound like it.

Cheers,

Nigel

I think that closing off the sides of the springs will do exactly what you said, create a more concentrated area of tourists. I was at 3 Sisters yesterday and there were two large tour groups of snorkelers surrounding and crowding the manatees. Plus a tour group of kayakers (6 or 7 of them) were also surrounding the manatees in the center of the spring. had to wait until the tour groups got rounded up before I could take photos again. Does anyone know how roped off the outer parts of the spring will be? Those offer some of the best manatee photos.