Announcing the NEW U.S. Postal Service Manatee Stamp!
Greetings to you! Here’s very cool news. March 27th is Manatee Appreciation Day! And the U.S. Postal Service honors this extraordinary marine mammal by releasing the “Manatee Stamp” on March 27th, celebrating manatee awareness!
According to the U.S. Postal Service, “The stamp’s design aims to spread awareness for the need to protect a beloved marine mammal.” The stamp is illustrated by Nancy Wrightand displays a gray-green West Indian manatee “placidly lolling underwater near the surface,” according to the Postal Service website.
You can purchase one single “Save Manatees” postage stamp for 68 cents, or a sheet of 20 stamps for $13.60. This stamp is issued as a First-Class Mail Forever stamp. And Sue Brennan of the USPS explained, “They can be used to send letters, cards and bills regardless of additional stamp increases.” The last time the U.S. Postal Service issued a postage stamp featuring a manatee was in 1996, when the price was 32 cents.
Brennan said, “It was time for a new one [and the] Postal Service has a long history of supporting and brining awareness to animal and conservation issues with postage stamps.”
The Postal Service news release stated, “The West Indian manatee on the new stamp is a gentle and vulnerable marine mammal inhabiting Florida’s inland waterways and warm areas of the coastal Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.”
Manatees are Dying in Record Numbers because Seagrass Beds are being destroyed by Fertilizers and Climate Change!
Manatees are in crisis. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reports more than 1,100 have died in 2021. This is nearly double the five-year average. Why? Because they’re starving to death.
These manatee deaths are part of a larger trend: around the world, seagrasses are on the decline, mainly because of increasingly clouded waters due to coastal development. Other drivers of this die-off include algal blooms, destructive fishing and boating practices, and the warmer, more acidic waters of climate change.
Introducing an Excellent Way to Talk to Kids with “Soft Facts” about Climate Change
One awesome tool for talking to kids about climate change is to read my fourth installment in the award-winning Kobee Manatee® Children’s Educational Picture Book series. It’s titled, Kobee Manatee® Climate Change and The Great Blue Hole Hazard. It’s about climate change and plastic pollution in our oceans.
When you read this award-winning educational picture book to children, you’ll discover it’s a fun and fictional adventure loaded with weaved in facts on climate change and plastic pollution. This helps children learn about this serious subject in a fun and entertaining way. Here’s a brief synopsis …
Kobee Manatee®, the protagonist and his seafaring pals, Tess the seahorse and Pablo the hermit crab swim from the Cayman Islands to Belize. Kobee wants to help his cousin Quinn clean up plastic litter at her new, all-veggie underwater bistro called Quinn’s Seagrass Café.
On their Caribbean journey they encounter harmful effects of climate change and plastic pollution. As if that wasn’t enough, several other unforeseen problems occur with a distressed loggerhead turtle, a giant Portuguese man-of-war, and a venomous scorpionfish. They’re all amazed when they discover the extraordinary Great Blue Hole. Then their adventure takes another crazy turn when Pablo plunges into its huge abyss!
Each page includes in-depth, scientific details on climate change and plastic pollution in our oceans with Dr. Tracy Fanara, NOAA Scientist (aka Inspector Planet). Tracy can be seen on The Weather Channel as a visiting expert and she’s also seen on their “Weird Earth” segments.
We already have Fantastic Reviews on our Newest Release!
“A well-crafted, thoughtful, and well-illustrated addition to a noteworthy educational book series.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Robert Scott Thayer presents an important environmental message in an engaging story with wonderful characters. Anyone who loves the ocean and wants to help save it should read Kobee Manatee: Climate Change and The Great Blue Hole Hazard. I’m looking forward to the next Kobee Manatee adventure.” —Readers’ Favorite
For young readers who enjoy imaginative tales surrounding affable and heroic sea creatures, as well as parents and/or teachers looking for a way to introduce youngsters to the importance of marine conservation, Kobee Manatee® Climate Change and The Great Blue Hole Hazard offers a perfect blend. Highly recommended! – Chanticleer Book Reviews
If you see any sick or injured manatees, please call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at: 1-888-404-3922 (FWCC). They are the folks who are responsible for rescuing us in Florida.
Here’s the Save the Manatee Club link to learn more about manatees …
Here’s a cool link for you to learn more about how manatees are rescued and brought into rehabilitation …
~ Robert Scott Thayer
Update: Here’s some good news! On January 29, 2024
Blue Spring State Park, home to one of the largest winter gathering sites for manatees in Florida said, “the park reached a new record when the number of manatees spotted in one group was nearly 1,000.”
The previous record of manatees gathering was 736 on New Year’s Day of this year.
Related Posts
Celebrate the Green with March because It’s Seagrass Awareness Month
March is Seagrass Awareness Month
