Save the Manatee (SMC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit group and membership organization dedicated to the conservation of manatees. The organization was founded in 1981 by singer and songwriter Jimmy Buffett, and Governor of Florida (and later U.S. Senator) Bob Graham. There are currently about 40,000 active members of SMC. Save the Manatee Club raises funds from the Adopt-A-Manatee program to go toward public awareness and education projects, manatee research, rescue and rehabilitation efforts, and advocacy and legal action to ensure better protection for manatees and their habitat. The Club has also assisted state and federal governments with research projects in Florida such as aerial surveys, seagrass studies, telemetry studies, manatee photo identification projects, population modeling and the compilation of over twenty years of research on the population of Blue Spring manatees. International efforts Save the Manatee Club provides funds, supplies, and other essential equipment to Wildtracks, Belize's only manatee rehabilitation facility. SMC has assisted the Puerto Rico Manatee Conservation Center in raising critical funds needed to repair damage sustained by Hurricane Maria. They also partner with villages in Nigeria, part of the West African manatee’s habitat, providing funding and collaborating with villagers to develop an alternative livelihoods program that provides manatee poachers with a sustainable and legal alternative to taking manatees. Additionally, SMC helps the Caribbean Stranding Network in Puerto Rico provide care for orphaned and injured manatees. Stated core values Supporting the most effective conservation actions possible Making science-based decisions and supporting science-driven policies Demanding accountability from policy-makers Working cooperatively Adopt-A-Manatee Save the Manatee Club's membership program is called Adopt-A-Manatee. This program was conceived by Jimmy Buffett in 1984 as a way to increase awareness of the manatee's plight and to get the public involved in their conservation. Currently, the Club has 34 living manatees with known histories available for adoption as well as three memorial adoptions for manatees that have died. The proceeds from this program go toward public awareness and education programs; manatee research, rescue and rehabilitation efforts; and advocacy and legal action to ensure better protection for manatees and their habitat. Downlisting On behalf of Save Crystal River, Inc., Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) petitioned the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to downlist the West Indian Manatee (Trichechus manatus) from an endangered to threatened species. PLF contends that FWS has a legal duty under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to implement this reclassification, because the