MANATEE DECAL COLLECTION

Decal Order Form

Information about Manatee Decals

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Now available at Florida Tax Collector offices  2008-2009 Decal:  Protect our future With her stain-glass inspired image of two manatees swimming together, a junior art student at West Boca Raton High School in Boca Raton captured top honors in the 2008-2009 manatee decal art contest sponsored by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).   Austyn Bynon, 16, chose bright colors to draw the background for the two manatees. Her inspiration for the design was from a stain-glass window and the desire to present a more abstract design from previous winning entries.    “I hear a lot about manatees and I thought that this contest would be a perfect way to raise peoples’ awareness of their endangerment.”  She said, “I used bright colors so the design would attract more attention, and hopefully spark more interest in saving the manatees.”  Bynon’s design will appear on the 2008-2009 manatee decals sold by tax collectors to help fund the FWC’s manatee conservation efforts.   Since 1992, manatee decals have been available to Florida vessel and vehicle registrants at county tax collectors’ offices for a donation to protect the Florida manatee. These donations raise approximately $70,000 annually

2007-2008 Decal: Manatees ~ Now and Forever The conservation goal of the state's new manatee management plan is to effectively manage the population of manatees in perpetuity throughout Florida by securing habitat and minimizing threats.  While Floridians can be proud of past efforts to protect and conserve manatees, there is still much to be done.  The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is optimistic that the manatees' long-term survival is manageable and that manatees will remain a unique and treasured part of Florida - now and forever. Our thanks to Coral Reef Senior High School student, Natasha Thornton, for submitting her manatee artwork as an entry in our annual Manatee Decal Art Contest.

2006-2007 Decal: Protect Florida's Native Species A Citrus Springs student captured top honors in the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC’s) 2006-2007 Manatee Decal Art Contest. Donovan Foster a seventh grader at Citrus Springs Middle School, created this artwork, titled “Manatees at Sunrise,” with a combination of prisma pencil and watercolor.

2005-2006 Decal: Protect Wildlife Habitat The artwork for the 2005-2006 manatee decal was created by Vivian Chiu, 13, a student from Indian Ridge Middle School in Broward County. Vivian’s artwork is a watercolor image  of three manatees, in which she has titled, "Manatees in Nature." The artwork is used to promote manatee protection in Florida. Decals created from the artwork are distributed through tax collector offices around the state. This decal is currently available.

2004-2005 Decal: Waterways for Wildlife! A Miami seventh-grade student created the artwork for this Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission manatee decal. Alicia del Aguila, a 12-year-old, created the watercolor design of two manatees and titled it, “Waiting for Something.”  Alicia is a student at the South Miami Middle Community School.  The message of this decal focuses on healthy waterways for wildlife as it encourages people to recycle fishing line along with keeping waterways clean.  20,000 decals were printed of this design.

2003-2004 Decal: The Manatee-A Florida Treasure Kathleen M. Finch, an 8th grade student from Roosevelt Community Middle School in West Palm Beach, submitted the winning design for this decal.  She titled her artwork “Peaceful Waters” and stated that she hoped her artwork would be chosen so that she could help save the manatees and preserve Florida wildlife.   The decal is the second round decal of the manatee decal series.  25,000 decals were printed of this design.  The back of the decal talks about the longevity of the sirenian species in Florida--manatees truly are one of Florida’s native treasures.   2002-2003 Decal: Manatees Forever! The artwork for the 2002-2003 manatee decal was created by Stephanie Lemos, an eighth grade student at Jose Marti Middle School in Hialeah, Florida. Stephanie’s artwork is a watercolor image of a lone manatee. She titled the painting, "Peacefully Swimming Manatee." The artwork is used to promote manatee protection in Florida. Decals created from the artwork are distributed through tax collector offices around the state. This decal should be available in July 2002.

2001-2002 Decal: I Support Manatees Wildlife artist JoAnne Thorne, from Volusia County, created the artwork for the 2001 decal. She also submitted two other designs which placed in the FWC's annual decal art contest last winter. Thorne has been the official artist of the Blue Spring Manatee Festival for the past five years. Besides Thorne's artwork, the front of the oval-shaped decal has the "I Support Manatees" caption and the new FWC resource protection number-1-888-404-FWCC. The back of the colorful decal gives information about the various programs.   2000-2001 Decal: Protect Florida's Wildlife The manatee has become a symbol of Florida. While they occasionally range into other states, Florida is the only state in the country where manatees can survive year-round. They are as much a part of Florida's unique and irreplaceable heritage as Florida's white sandy beaches, the Everglades, or the Florida Keys. Do your part to by helping to Protect Florida's Wildlife today. The artwork for this decal was created by Dann "Spider" Warren of Destin, Florida. Dann is a first time participant and winner in our competition. The title of his work is "Mermaids in Crystal River." 1999-2000 Decal: Yield to Manatees! Manatees are year round residents in Florida's coastal waterways. Many of the manatees living in Florida's waterways bear the scars of collisions with boats. In addition to propeller scars, internal injuries such as broken bones, head trauma and blood clots are associated with impacts. Boaters may help recover this endangered species by Yielding to Manatees in Florida's waterways. The artwork for the Yield to Manatees! decal was created by Tom Krause. This is the third year that Tom's artwork has been selected for our program's manatee decal. The decal marks the transition of the Bureau of Protected Species Management from the Department of Environmental Protection to the new Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission agency. The decal face does not have any reference to an agency as the other decals have in the past. A total of 25,000 decals are available for distribution at county offices.

1998-1999 Decal: It's Your Coast! We gratefully acknowledge Tom Krause for donating his artwork for this decal. - You play a big part in keeping Florida's coast healthy... not just for your enjoyment and health, but for Florida's marine life as well.

1997-1998 Decal "Look Out Below" for manatees when you are near seagrass areas Healthy seagrass systems are essential to the Florida manatee poplation and for a healthy marine ecosystem.   Boating impacts to seagrass systems are severe.  Over 173,000 arces of productive nearshore seagrasses have propeller scars. Thomas Krause from Nakomis, Florida designed this decal.  Krause trained formally at the Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida where he was featured in the Best of Ringling shows.   For several years he has studied under and participated in several masterclass workshops instructed by John Seery Lester.

1996-97 Decal: Protect Florida's Manatees a.k.a. smiling manatee of King's Bay. The artwork for this decal was created by Marcia Armstrong of Ocala, FL. Regulatory signs are printed on the back of the decal. The number series starts with "96-." The decal is the first oval design created for the series. DEP's art editor, Tracy Nichols, provided computer enhancements for the design. It was discovered that the decal is paper based and not waterproof after the first printing of this decal.  Additional decals were reordered to replace the decals that fell off of boats or fell apart when they got wet. The paper decal (sticker) is suitable for framing instead of for placing on boats or vehicles as it is not waterproof. The marine turtle decal is similar in design to this year's manatee decal.

1995-96 Manatee Decal Boomer (1979-1994) This decal is dedicated to Boomer. He was killed by watercraft in Putnam County in April 1994. Word of his death did not get out until February 1995, after he failed to show up at Blue Spring State Park during the winter season. Almost 2,000 responses about his demise came to the department during the time that the decal selection was going on. One of his adopted parents, Katie Johnson, of Jacksonville, suggested that we dedicate the decal to her beloved Boomer. The decal was created in-house by the DEP's art editor, Tracy L. Nichols. The decal is the first to have manatee information printed on the back along with the numbers used for accounting purposes and the first that is a computer enhanced design from a photograph.

1994-95 Manatee Decal Caution Today, or Extinction Tomorrow This decal was created by Pat Batchelder. It is the first decal that shows the name of the new department.

1993-94 Manatee Decal Ours to Protect, The Florida Manatee The 1993-94 manatee decal was created by DNR's Art Editor Georgia Murphy-Steadham. Beginning with this decal, numbers were printed on the peel away paper so that the decals could be better accounted for and inventoried. This is the last decal with the Department of   Natural Resources printed on its face. The Florida Department of  Natural Resources and the Florida Department of Environmental Regulation joined to become the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in July of 1993.

1992-93 Manatee Decal Protect Florida's Resources, Save the Manatees The 1992-93 manatee decal was created in-house by the Florida Department of  Natural Resources' (DNR) Art Section Illustrator Marrell Burgess. The decal is the only one in the series that does not have a number printed on the back.

 

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