Every effort to be made to protect marine wildlife during Bradenton regatta

MANATEE -- Organizers of Saturday's Bradenton Area Riverwalk Regatta have maintained every step is being taken to protect marine wildlife ahead of Formula 2 Powerboat Superleague competitors racing across the Manatee River at speeds in excess of 100 mph -- a speed they can reach in about 4 seconds.

Protecting manatees, sea turtles, dolphins and even the small sawtooth fish was the biggest obstacle to overcome in dropping the green flag on the regatta, which will feature multiple on-water events besides the main Formula 2 race.

To achieve that goal, the city of Bradenton contracted with Palmetto environmental firm ECo Consultants to obtain the needed environmental permit from the U.S. Coast Guard.

While the Coast Guard was the lead agency, multiple local, state and federal agencies had input on the permit, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission, Florida Department of Environmental Protection and more, each of which could have stopped the race from happening if their concerns were not addressed.

"The main environmental component of this involved us sitting down with all of the agencies and talk about it so everyone was kept in the loop to create a marine mammal and sea turtle watch plan," consultant Brett Solomon said. "That plan sets up the guidance for what will occur to protect and minimize any adverse impacts to protected species before, during and after the event."

The watch plan includes experts on marine mammals observing during the event, with full authority to stop the race if a manatee or other marine wildlife ventures into the race course area.

Sea to Shore Alliance is in charge of the observation and is led by Jack "Buddy" Powell, who has spent more than 40 years of his life dedicated to the conservation of manatees in Florida and around the world. Powell will observe the race course from a helicopter, and other qualified manatee observers who will position on the Green Bridge and observation boats.

Solomon said each observer will have immediate access to Powell, who in turn has immediate access to the race control center. The race can be stopped within seconds of spotting marine wildlife in danger, and the race cannot resume until Powell gives approval.

"The city and promoters are working very diligently to keep environmental issues at the forefront," said Solomon. "On the morning of the race, there will be marine mammal training for racers, the teams and law enforcement. One of the things we coordinated with the Save the Manatee Club was to have a quiz after the training just to make sure everyone is paying attention. That's just a small example of the safeguards that are being taken to make sure everyone is educated."

Dr. Katie Tripp, director of science and conversation for Save the Manatee Club, said organizers considered her group's input.

"That goes a long way in reducing the impact and how you come through the challenges of things like this that will hopefully create the best plan possible," Tripp said.

Save the Manatee Club does not endorse the race, however, Tripp said.

"The only way to reduce the impact 100 percent is to not have this type of inshore racing," she said. "We were very involved with a race in Martin County a few years ago, and our bottom line is that we don't see the point. We've made it clear that we aren't condoning it, but they have taken precautions and doing safeguards."

Solomon said that if steps had not been taken to protect wildlife, it would have been impossible to get the permit approved.

"We are very excited and it should be a fantastic race day," he said. "There are as many safeguards in place as possible, and this event would not have been approved without a tremendous collaborative process with all the agencies involved."

Mark Young, Herald urban affairs reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7041 or follow him on Twitter @urbanmark2014.

This story was originally published February 6, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Every effort to be made to protect marine wildlife during Bradenton regatta ."