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Florida's Canaveral Lock once permitted the passage of rocket stages for the U.S. space program. Today, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is working to keep the waterway open to manatees, large herbivorous mammals known as "sea cows". The slow-moving Florida manatee is considered an endangered species – and no match for the powerful locks that have been blamed for the deaths of 16 sea cows since the 1970s.
Ten years ago, the Army Corps of Engineers spent $400,000 on a system to safeguard the manatee from Canaveral Lock's gates. Those protections failed in 2008, and the Corps now plans to spend $1.2 million on an underwater sound system. Developed by Florida Atlantic University, this acoustic system uses sensors developed originally for the U.S. Navy. When a manatee swims between closing gates, the seacow blocks underwater sound waves and triggers an alarm, causing the gates to reopen.
Is this a sound way to save the Florida manatee?
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Re: Sound Ways to Save Manatees
