DISL's Manatee Sighting Network

09/07/2026

Happy International Manatee Day🌿🌊!!! Did you know today is also National Threatened Species Day... oh and also Labor Day?! While out enjoying the weather today, please remember to keep an eye out for manatees and other threatened species. To protect manatees and other threatened species today and every day, the best things you can do is to keep an eye out for them, and if you do see them, admire from a far. We also encourage you to report any manatees you see to our network (manatee.disl.org)!!

Photo Credit 📸:
Gulf Shores, AL - Kendra Bryan
Satsuma, AL - Kory Wesley
Soldier Creek - Shirley Shannon

09/04/2026

Happy labor day weekend everyone😎!! While you're out on the water, we want to give you all a reminder to please keep an eye out for manatees! Manatees love the coastal waters just as much as we do, and can often be hard to spot below the surface🌊. We recommend always having a manatee spotter on board, wearing polarized sunglasses for better underwater visibility, and following all posted no wake zone signs.

Photo Credit 📸:
Terry Vinson-James - Gulf Breeze, FL
Ben Steiner - Choctawhatchee Bay, FL
Orange Beach, AL - Brad Theriot

08/17/2026

Manatees have been seen doing all kinds of behaviors in our waters, from feeding to mating, and are most common in our area during the summer☀️. We've received numerous reports of manatees the past few weeks, including one of a large mating herd, so we'd like to send out a quick reminder☝️:

1. Do not approach or touch the manatees, even if you believe one is injured. This puts you, and the manatees, in danger.
2. Report your manatee sightings to us! Especially if you have a concern, we'd love to hear from you as soon as possible. Please don't hesitate to give us a call at 1-866-493-5803, or report to our website manatee.disl.org
3. Alert others to keep an eye out and to go slow on their boats in shallow areas, especially as mating herds can persist for days.

Thank you to everyone who reported the mating herd this weekend off of Gulf Shores and for letting us share these incredible photos and videos to help show just what a manatee mating herd looks like. These sighters did a great job of keeping their distance and alerting our network of the activity.

08/12/2026

Thats our REU!!! We're so proud of the hard work Ryan put in all summer. Check out his final presentation here!!

Ryan Manning is from Buffalo, New York, and attends Buffalo State U...

08/03/2026

Congratulations to our REU student Ryan on a successful presentation at the DISL REU 2026 poster symposium!! We are so proud of all the work he put in this summer! Everyone throw some marine mammals in the comments to help us congratulate Ryan!!

07/30/2026

The DISL REU Poster Symposium is TODAY from 4-6pm in the Shelby building at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab!! Come support our REU student Ryan as he presents the incredible work he's done this summer researching the effects of tide and location on manatee movements and behavior