Airship Aids In Wildlife Protection Mission
From sun-sentinel.com: “A tubby, slow-moving airship ascended over South Florida to track tubby, slow-moving marine mammals as state biologists rode the Goodyear blimp to count manatees. The 192-foot Goodyear-Zeppelin Spirit of Innovation lifted off from Pompano Beach on a mission to assess the manatee population of Palm Beach County, taking advantage of the cold weather that drives manatees to a few well-known warm spots.
Of particular concern were the hundreds of manatees that cluster around the warm-water discharges of the Riviera Beach power plant, where red and white stacks have towered over the area since the Kennedy administration. Having lost coastal habitat, particularly around warm natural springs, manatees have learned to escape cold weather by clustering around this plant and six or seven others around the state. But several of these plants are aging, calling into question whether manatees will be able to depend on them as a perpetual replacement for lost habitat…
The Jan. 22 observation trip was part of an annual statewide count of manatees conducted from helicopters, small planes, land, a canoe and, for the first time, a helium-filled, propeller-driven airship.
Provided free by Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., the blimp turned out to be an excellent platform. Traveling at 25 mph, it arrived at the plant and hovered about 1,000 feet above the water as the scientists peered down and took pictures.” South Florida power plants push to upgrade, but not leave manatees out in the cold
