JAMES WOOD'S METHOD OF ASSESSING PROPELLER WOUNDS / SCARS

CFFW Promotes James Wood's Method of Assessing Propeller Wounds / Scars

James Wood is a mild mannered man. He is not a boater, but rather a fly-fisherman who wades in waist deep water and decries boats making wakes nearby. He has a BS degree in Oceanography-Biology. He is a clear thinker, and he loves to solve problems. James is an individual who has the welfare of the manatee as a primary interest.

In late 2000, James was engaged in a conversation regarding propeller strikes on manatees, and he opined that there must be a way to determine the size of propeller involved and perhaps the type of vessel. The others scoffed that it was too complicated and couldn't be done. There's propeller pitch, number of blades, slippage, etc. that must be considered. That was all James needed to hear-A Challenge!

James studied the problem, and he soon became even more convinced that there was a way to use the wound measurements and spacing to define the propeller(s) involved. After a few weeks, James determined the basis for analyzing such wounds / marks, and after collecting a lot of reference data on boats and propellers, he wrote down his approach in a technical paper, which can be viewed at http://www.lumatrex.com/ASimplePropMethodforBrevard.htm. He is currently expanding his method to garner things like vessel speed from the pattern of wounds.

After outlining his basic method, James talked to two biologists of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission / Bureau of Protected Species Management (FF&WCC-BPSM). However, these biologists told him that they "had the best forensic minds look at the problem, and it could not be solved." They showed no interest in pursuing his work.

Wood was invited to present his method at a CFFW sponsored Boating Symposium held in Brevard County in April of 2001, where representatives of many organizations had the opportunity to see his approach. Yet, there still was no positive reaction from those attendees from FF&WCC, which included the then Executive Director, Alan Egbert.

One of the principal arguments that people from Save the Manatee Club ($MC) used against James' approach is that his method has not been peer reviewed. $MC and the Wildlife Agencies seem very reluctant to even understand his method, and that is very telling.

On September 16, 2003 James Wood was invited to present his paper at a meeting of the Panel on Propeller Hydrodynamics of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) in Virginia Beach, VA. The panel enthusiastically accepted James' method and agreed to provide a written peer review. CFFW, by a motion passed by your Board of Directors (BOD), underwrote the travel costs for Wood to attend this meeting. The CFFW BOD has further decided to help fund James Wood to prepare a proposal so he can get his work funded by interested agencies / organizations.

CFFW, in helping James Wood, is promoting the use of the best available science to understand how to best protect the manatee while respecting the rights of boaters.

Captain Tom McGill 9/29/03