Give Manatees a Real Sanctuary

Their skin may look thick, but, like us, manatees can't handle cold water for very long. In fact, some years hundreds of endangered manatees die from prolonged exposure. That's why we must protect their winter homes -- places like Three Sisters Springs in Kings Bay, Florida -- as true sanctuaries, instead of tourist traps.

Increasingly, when the manatees have arrived at the springs, they've been greeted by an absurd number of people in the water wanting to have a close encounter. Manatees are gentle, yes, and peaceable too. But when they congregate near springs during winter months, they do so not for our own benefit but as a matter of survival. What they really need is to be left alone.

The Center for Biological Diversity is partnering with Save the Manatee Club to ask the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to make Three Sisters Springs a permanent winter sanctuary and to implement a no-touch policy.

Take action below -- sign our petition to protect manatees' winter refuge.