New Manatee Message from Jimmy Buffett
Glancing back, with a focus on the future, Save the Manatee Club’s new TV and radio PSA, voiced by the Club’s co-founder, singer/songwriter, Jimmy Buffett, encourages continued support for Florida’s endangered marine mammals. The 30-second ad, which is being distributed to stations nationwide, asks people to “join us in leaving a lasting legacy for Florida’s cherished manatees.”
Patrick Rose, Executive Director of Save the Manatee Club, an international nonprofit advocacy group, says, “We are ever-grateful to Jimmy Buffett for his vital support through the years to help manatees. He co-founded the Club in 1981; he has lobbied for better manatee and manatee habitat protection measures, and has also been featured in numerous public service announcements produced by the Club. Thanks, in part, to Jimmy’s involvement with the Club, manatees are one of America’s most well-known and beloved marine mammals.”
The manatees themselves have become celebrities, especially those featured in the Club’s Adopt-A-Manatee® programs. The Club has five adoption programs featuring real, living manatees with known histories. Members can follow their manatee’s progress through the organization’s newsletters.
Other celebrities who have aided Save the Manatee Club’s manatee conservation efforts include Alec Baldwin, John Lithgow, Carl Hiaasen, Alex Trebek, and Cheryl Tiegs.
Currently, there are about 5,000 manatees in existence concentrated primarily in Florida. They are listed as endangered at the international, national, and state levels. Collisions with boats remain the largest known cause of manatee injuries and deaths. Funds from the Club’s popular Adopt-A-Manatee® program help support rescues of injured manatees and orphaned calves; scientific research; public awareness projects, and conservation programs in America and around the world.
The Jimmy Buffett TV PSA features captivating high definition video by Patrick Rose and Crystal River videographer, Tracy Colson. View the TV ad and listen to the audio spot on the Club’s website at http://savethemanatee.org/video_audio_psas.htm. Broadcast quality of the TV PSA is available for download and in other formats, and an MP3 is available for radio stations by contacting Janice Nearing, the Club’s Director of Public Relations, at jnearing@savethemanatee.org.
For more information on manatees and the adoption program, and to sign up for the Club’s free E-newsletter, visit savethemanatee.org. Watch the Club’s Blue Spring webcams at manatv.org.