Tawana
- Tag Status
- Active
- Last Date Tagged
- December 17, 2025
- Gender
- Female
- Tagging Location
- Silver Glen Spring, Florida
Please note: The presentation of data here does not constitute publication, and the researchers who contributed this data retain all intellectual property rights. Map created by Clearwater Marine Aquarium using Google Maps API. Data & Map © CMA. Use of this map or data without permission is prohibited without the written consent of the researcher. This map is automatically updated with new points each day. The manatee icon location point represents the most recent location received for this manatee. If the most recent point is more than two months old, then the manatee most likely lost their tag ending our ability to track their movement.
Tawana’s Story
“Tawana” was first observed at Salt Spring, Florida in January 2019 by Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute (CMARI) while they were conducting their photo identification study for manatee use at springs in the lower St. Johns River. During a survey five years later in January 2024, “Tawana” was documented at Silver Glen Spring with monofilament around her right flipper cutting into her skin. If left untreated, the line would likely continue to tighten, move deeper through the tissue and bone casuing permanent damage and potential loss of her flipper. Unfortunately, “Tawana” would not stay in a location long enough for a rescue crew to respond, or she would be accompanied by a large number of manatees at the Blue Spring State Park during winter. “Tawana” was resighted in Silver River during February 2024 and January 2025 still with her entanglement, then later in the year at Moss Bluff Lock in February and March 2025, each time not staying in the area to allow for a rescue response from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). During December 2025, “Tawana” was again sighted by CMARI in Silver Glen Spring and an FWC rescue team consisting of staff and volunteers from FWC, CMARI, Jacksonville Zoo and Botanical Gardens (JZBG), University of Florida Marine Animal Rescue (UFMAR), and U.S. Forest Service Ocala National Forest responded on December 17, 2025 to attempt an onsite field disentanglement. Veterinary staff from UFMAR with experience in removing entanglements and veterinary technician support from JZBG were able to completely remove six strands of monofilament line that had become embedded into her flipper causing skin damage and flipper restrictions. “Tawana” also received a complete health checkup from UFMAR veterinarians for future analysis and comparative studies. She measured in at a length just short of 11 feet long, was estimated to weigh over 1500 pounds and was suspected of being pregnant. The successful disentanglement of “Tawana” by this amazing dedicated group of wildlife experts not only helped save her flipper but also provided a female manatee a higher chance of raising future calves.
CMARI also outfitted “Tawana” with a GPS satellite tag to closely monitor her travels as part of our Ocklawaha Manatee Movement study. The project will collect crucial habitat use and health data to help manage threats to manatees that migrate into the system during the warmer months of the year from the east coast of Florida and the upper St. Johns River. Working in cooperation with state and federal agencies, data collected from this project will also provide an insightful understanding of how often individual manatees navigate through lock systems and what resources they seek between large lake systems.
All manatee work was conducted under USFWS Research Permit # MA37808A-2.