FLORIDA WILDLIFE
This collection includes wildlife that most people identify with Florida. It includes the manatee, alligator, green sea turtle and dolphin. I will donate a portion of the money earned from the sale of these sculptures to conservation organizations working to save these species.
Florida Manatee
"Rubenesque"
The Florida manatee is a subspecies of the West Indian manatee. They feed on seagrass, algae and other vegetation in freshwater and estuarine systems in the southeastern United States. They require warm water environments to survive. They are listed as threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife. Due to their high buoyancy and slow speed, they are often struck by vessels. There are also die-offs due to red tide and cold weather events. Early seafarers confused manatees for mermaids. This may have been explained by paintings in the 1600s by Flemish painter, Paul Ruben, of voluptuous women (Rubenesque).
14 in L, 7 in W, 3 in H
Base 15 in L, 10 in W, 1.5 in H
Alligator
"Allapattah"
American alligators appeared around 84 million years ago and have undergone very little evolutionary change. The Seminole Indian tribes relied on the alligator for sustenance. Alligator wrestling also originated with the Seminole tribes. The Seminole word for alligator is allapattah. They are large carnivores that inhabit lakes, rivers, marshes and swamps in the southeast United States. They have a life span of about 50 years in the wild. They usually range in length from 6 to 12 feet and weigh around 300 pounds as adults. Alligators have been hunted for their hides and young have been sold as pets. As a result, it disappeared from much of its range and was offered legal protection and as a result is no longer considered endangered.
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14 in L, 8 in W, 2.5 in H
Base 15 in L, 13 in W, 1.5 in H
Green Sea Turtle
"Honu"
The green sea turtle is named for the greenish color of their cartilage and fat, not their shell. They are found mainly in tropical and subtropical waters. They spend almost all of their lives underwater and come out of water only for nesting. They migrate long distances between feeding grounds and the beaches from where they hatched. Classified as endangered, green turtles are threatened by overharvesting of their eggs, hunting of adults, being caught in fishing gear and loss of nesting beach sites. In Hawaiian mythology, the Honu (Hawaiian word for green sea turtle) is a symbol of good luck and wisdom and an aumakua, or family god. In Florida you have the chance to see them in Sanibel Island’s J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, Ten Thousand Islands’ Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, and the Key West National Wildlife Refuge.
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11 in L, 8 in W, 2.5 in H
Base 12 in L. 12 in W, 1.5 in H
Dolphin
