They have been reported by water-skiers in Fish River and bass fishermen casting spinner baits at lily pad beds deep in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta.

Manatee sightings in Alabama's coastal waters have been on the rise for the last five years, evidence of an apparent expansion of the endangered animal's range.

But due to the haphazard nature of the sightings being reported, scientists have so far been unable to figure out how many of the huge vegetarians are spending their summers in Alabama.

Hoping to turn the sightings made by the public into useful scientific information, the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, in conjunction with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, has established a manatee reporting program with a toll free phone number and a Web site that will accept photos and descriptions of where the animals were seen.

"We're involved because the manatee is a listed species in Alabama. It is endangered. We're interested because we don't know where they go in Alabama, where they stay," said Dianne Ingram, a Fish & Wildlife biologist in the Daphne field office. "We've been trying to track them for a few years, but it's difficult to keep up with them, especially with so many anecdotal reports."

Ingram said the manatees appear to be migrating from Florida, as evidenced by the first reported sighting this year, two weeks ago in the Intracoastal Waterway.

"They were headed into Alabama. The last reported sighting we had last year was also in the Intracoastal but headed toward Florida," Ingram said. "That's really neat. It looks like they are moving from Florida."

Over the last several years, Press-Register reporters have observed manatees, sometimes with young, in Fish River, Dog River, Fowl River, Mobile Bay and Grand Bay.

Members of the public have reported seeing the creatures in some of those same areas, as well as Bayou La Batre, Halls Mill Creek, Rattlesnake Bayou and interior sections of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, such as McReynolds Lake.

Scientists believe it's likely that the same animals are returning to the area each year, teaching their young where to find the best grazing areas.

Manatees were once common in the area but were not seen in the 1970s or 80s. Then, in the mid-1990s, they began turning up again, coinciding with the resurgence of undersea grassbeds that had been lost on both sides of the bay.

The present size of the U.S. manatee population is thought to be between 2,500 and 3,000. There has been growing pressure in Florida to downgrade the status of the manatee from "endangered" to "threatened," which would loosen certain restrictions on waterfront development in that state.

Collisions with boats account for about 90 percent of all manatee deaths, according to some estimates. The animals are sometimes able to heal their wounds, but propellers can cut deeply. A slice deep enough to hit internal organs usually delivers a death blow.

"It seems like (sightings) have been increasing in recent years," said Ruth Carmichael, with the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. "We've got someone manning the phones and we're set up to respond to each report we get within 24 hours. If we can get photos, that's great."

Carmichael said scientists would study the photos, looking for propeller scars on the animals' backs.

"What we're really looking for are pictures of the scarring pattern. They use those like a fingerprint for each animal. They have a large database at the Wildlife Trust in Florida. They can actually track the animals by looking at the scars on their backs," Carmichael said.

But, she stressed, it's important that people leave the animals alone, viewing them from a distance of at least 100 feet. She said people shouldn't attempt to swim with them or feed them, especially if they are with young.

"Don't do anything that changes their behavior. That's the litmus test. If you've done anything that makes them move or quit eating, that's the federal definition of harassment, and that's illegal," she said. "If you can get a photo, that's great, but don't go chasing them. We'd rather just have a report of their location.

"We don't want the animals or the people getting too comfortable with each other. That's when accidents occur, and it's usually the manatee that loses."

Carmichael said anyone reporting a sighting should note the date, time and location, with as much detail as possible, including GPS coordinates if available. In addition to photos, basic information, such as how many manatees were seen, what they were doing and whether they were spotted from a dock or a boat would be useful.

To report a manatee sighting in Alabama waters, call 1-866-493-5803 or e-mail manatee@disl.org. For more information visit http://manatee.disl.org.

BAYOU LA BATRE -- No trees have been cleared off, yet, and no ground has been broken where the dirt of Shine Road meets Alabama 188. But within a year, city officials want to use $17.6 million in federal funds to build two new neighborhoods here, with a total of 120 affordably priced homes.

The plan to build the homes has changed many times over the past two years. City officials said they hope the scheme they've finally settled on after long discussion will be approved by federal officials in early June.

"These are going to be nice homes in nice neighborhoods," said Mayor Stan Wright. "We're not going to create a monster, here."

The planned neighborhoods are intended in part to get Hurricane Katrina victims to move away from their old, flood-prone neighborhoods, city officials said. The Bayou also lost a third of its population after Katrina hit on Aug. 29, 2005, so city officials hope to regain its tax base by attracting former and new residents.

As it currently stands, the Shine Road project would construct two-, three- and four-bedroom modular homes priced at about $90,000 to $125,000. In earlier versions of the plan, the city considered building homes that would have been available to buyers for less money.

"We decided we wanted permanent, quality homes," Wright said.

Bayou La Batre will use $2 million -- part of the $37 million in HUD funds awarded to the city last June -- to install the neighborhood's infrastructure, including underground electrical wiring, drainage, sewer and water lines.

The homebuilding project has not been without a few false starts.

In October, city officials announced plans to build, in partnership with Volunteers of America Southeast, 105 modular homes on the 39.11-acre site beside Shine Road. Volunteers of America purchased the land with a $300,000 grant received that month from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Then, in December, Bayou La Batre won a $15.6 million Federal Emergency Management Agency grant, which city officials said would build 194 affordable modular homes costing about $50,000 each. That project was a partnership with the nonprofit DASH for the Gulf Coast, based in Mobile. DASH stands for dependable, affordable, sustainable housing.

The city and DASH planned, in addition to the neighborhood at Shine Road and Alabama 188, to create a second, 28-acre neighborhood at Argyle and Four Mile roads, said Janey Galbraith, the city's grants consultant.

Discussions between the nonprofits and the city stalled, however, and the city opted this month to simply hire a private homebuilder, Wright said. The city began discussions with Mitchell Homes, which offered to build the homes at about $98,000 apiece, Wright said.

City officials plan to meet with FEMA administrators in Washington, D.C., in early June to get official approval to use the $15.6 million to hire a private contractor rather than work through a nonprofit, Galbraith said.

In addition to building an array of traditional homes, Mitchell Homes constructs modular homes. Those are produced at a warehouse in Huntsville while crews clear the home site and pour the concrete foundation, said Russell Heidelburg, a real estate agent with ERA Marie McConnell Realty. His company sells Mitchell Homes dwellings at its Magnolia Pointe subdivision in Theodore.

Bayou La Batre will seek guidance from FEMA on whether it can hire Mitchell Company outright or if it must open the project to competitive bidding.

If the project goes through as planned, people will be able to apply to buy or rent the homes within a year, Galbraith said.

In selecting applicants, the city will give first priority to those who owned and occupied a home within the city limits of Bayou La Batre prior to Katrina, and who are currently living in a FEMA trailer, Galbraith said. Forty-nine families reside in travel trailers in the Bayou, FEMA officials said late last week.

Second priority will be given to pre-storm owner-occupants in Mobile County still living in FEMA trailers, she said. Currently, 369 families remain in FEMA trailers in unincorporated Mobile County, FEMA officials said.

"I don't think we'll get beyond those two groups. I think we'll fill up fast," Galbraith said.

The city will screen out applicants with felony records, and with any record of sexual misconduct, Galbraith said.

The city plans to offer special financing to would-be owners and renters with low incomes, said. Some will be eligible for up to two years without rent, she said.

"There are a lot of people who were poor before the storm, who lost their family homes, weren't insured, can't afford to rebuild and are living in travel trailers within the federal flood zone," Galbraith said.

Offering free rent for two years will hopefully "get those families out of harm's way" while allowing them to hold on to property that perhaps has been in their families for generations, she said. Also, monthly rent payments will go into an account, which can later be used as a down payment should the renter decide to purchase the home, she said.

"We want to make it as easy as possible," Galbraith said.

The city also plans to offer police officers and firefighters a special rental rate of $200 per month, she said.

"We want to create a place where families will feel safe," Wright said.

Big season anticipated at Alabama beaches

GULF SHORES -- Will high gas prices keep visitors from flocking to Alabama's beaches this weekend for what is traditionally the start of the summer tourist season? No way, tourism officials said.

Lingering doubts about the state of the beach in the wake of the hurricanes of 2004 and 2005 have done more to deter vacationers over the past two summers than high fuel prices, they said. With a lack of storms last year, officials expect this season to top the beach's banner year of 2004.

"We think it's going to be

the best summer ever," Gulf Shores Mayor G.W. "Billy" Duke III said. "We think it's going to set all records."

Strong advance bookings at area condos and hotels combined with good weather -- highs in the 80s with little chance of rain -- a slate of big events and millions spent on marketing have locals expecting one of the busiest summer kickoffs ever.

"I'm not seeing any downturn because of gas," said Marie Curren of the real estate conglomerate Brett/Robinson. "I think if you're coming down to spend a few thousand dollars, $30 is not going to make you cancel."

Curren said her firm has the weekend booked for all but a few of the 1,929 hotel rooms and condos it manages.

"We're turning away people for Memorial Day because we don't have any rooms left," she said late Wednesday. "We're at about 98 percent occupancy, which is about as high as we can go."

Meyer Real Estate of Gulf Shores, which manages more than 2,000 condos and some 300 beach houses, has had to forgo the standard Saturday-to-Saturday weekly rental requirement in order to accommodate the droves of customers who want to spend the holiday on Baldwin's beaches, corporate relations director Sarah Kuzma said. She advised anyone looking to make a late reservation to call ahead. "We're down to just a handful."

Across Mobile Bay, Dauphin Island Mayor Jeff Collier said he expects a flock of visitors this weekend drawn by new rental units, the town's public boat launch and, of course, the beach.

"It's already been busy before the holiday weekend," Collier said Thursday afternoon. "The public beach has been running over with people."

Like Curren and Kuzma, others in coastal Alabama's tourism trade don't see prices at the pump, which floated above $3 per gallon this week, threatening business since most of the area's visitors come from within a 1,000-mile radius. At 20 miles per gallon, an additional 50 cents per gallon on a 2,000-mile round trip would add $50 to the cost.

A family could make that up by staying in for dinner one night or scrimping in another way, said Herb Malone, president of the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Visitors Bureau data show that while fewer tourists traveled to south Baldwin County last summer than in 2004, those who did come -- about 505,000 -- collectively spent nearly $3 million more than the 543,000 tourists of 2004.

An event-filled holiday weekend should help Baldwin maintain the banner-year pace it set this spring. The events include:

The Mobile Big Game Fishing Club's annual Memorial Day Tournament in Orange Beach.

LuLuPalooza, a free daylong concert Saturday at Lucy Buffett's LuLu's at Homeport Marina in Gulf Shores, headlining the Wes Loper Band and Mac McAnally.

Hank Williams Jr. and Lynyrd Skynyrd in Orange Beach on Saturday night at The Wharf's 10,200-seat amphitheater.

"It looks like it will be a sellout, but we hope that there will be a few walk-up tickets so people won't be disappointed," The Wharf's Beason Wilkes said. "We're just totally excited because traffic has been surging all week long and we can see that summer season is upon us."

Area airport projects to get federal funds

Four airports in southwest Alabama will share more than $3.2 million in new Federal Aviation Administration grants, U.S. Rep. Jo Bonner's office said Tuesday.

Bonner, R-Mobile, said the projects take on increased importance now that German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp AG has selected north Mobile County for a new $3.7 billion plant.

"Just this month, our area learned we will be the site of the largest economic development project in the United States," Bonner said in a news release announcing the money, "and improvements to our area airports will provide even greater accessibility to our region."

The FAA will fund:

$2.44 million for the Mobile Regional Airport to work on access roads and terminal remodeling, including work on a sprinkler system, replacing lighting fixtures and building a new exterior stairwell.

$289,750 for the Atmore Municipal Airport to buy property for runway protection zones.

$450,000 for the Dauphin Island Airport to buy property for a runway protection zone for runway 30.

$100,000 for the Bay Minette Municipal Airport to install a security fence.

Bayou expects big turnout for 58th fleet blessing

By car and by boat, thousands are expected to travel this weekend to Bayou La Batre for the annual Blessing of the Fleet -- the second time the celebration has been held since Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005.

"Everyone needs to come and take a look at us because we're getting bigger and better every day," said Ron Goleman, this year's event chairman for St. Margaret Catholic Church.

Last year's estimated crowd of 8,000 was an unwelcome drop from the 11,000 that attended the 2005 event held just three months before Katrina flooded half the homes in the low-lying fishing village, Goleman said.

This year, church and city officials said, they decided to ramp up their efforts to draw visitors.

"We want to make sure everyone knows we're here, and the blessing's going to be big," said St. Margaret pastor, the Rev. Bieu Nguyen. "Some people doubted we could continue this tradition. We can."

The event once drew tens of thousands before the area hit harder times with the increase of shrimp imports from Asia, which industry officials say depressed prices.

The number of shrimp boats in the Gulf shrank by nearly 40 percent since 2000, according to federal statistics. About 1,800 Gulf vessels are currently operating. Of those, about 120 have Alabama permits, state regulators said.

In 2005, 45 boats participated in the Bayou's fleet blessing, while last year only 25 did, event volunteers said. Boat registration for this year's fleet blessing begins Sunday morning.

To increase participation from entertainment and arts and crafts vendors this year, Goleman said he sought the assistance of Marie Mathis, who has long directed events at the annual Alabama Pecan Festival in Tillman's Corner. Last year, 10 vendors set up at the fleet blessing. This year, at least 35 vendors are expected, Goleman said.

Also, the grand marshals of this year's parade -- Shelby Mitchell and Dan Brennan, hosts of WKSJ's Breakfast Club morning show -- have promoted the event on the air and posted information about it on their Web site.

The 58th Blessing of the Fleet, held on the waterfront behind St. Margaret's, will begin Saturday with a 5K fun walk or run at 8:30 a.m. Food will be served starting at

11 a.m. -- gumbo, boiled shrimp, stuffed crab, hot dogs, hamburgers, shrimp salad, fried fish, oyster and shrimp dinners, along with Vietnamese food.

A Mass for blessing workers is scheduled for Saturday at 6 p.m. at the church.

The official fleet blessing Mass is set for 11 a.m. Sunday.

A land parade is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Bayou La Batre Community Center on Padgett Switch Road. It will travel southwest to Wintzell Avenue, where it will turn left and then travel south to the church.

This year's blessing queen, Aimee Renee Gueret, 11, and her maids, Sally Hua, 13, and Taylor Paige Ladnier, 11, are to be presented at the church's dock at 3:30 p.m. The actual blessing and the boat parade are scheduled to follow.

Archbishop Oscar Lipscomb, this year's celebrant, is expected to deliver the event's traditional, solemn prayer for those lost at sea. Then Lipscomb is expected to board a vessel, which will carry him down the bayou as he stands at the bow sprinkling holy water and blessing the boats along the waterway.

A long row of boats traditionally trails behind. In recent years, those vessels have ranged from high-tech yachts packed to the gills with partying people to simple shrimping boats. Ships from the southern tip of Florida to Texas and even foreign vessels have shown up for past blessings.

Traditionally, the boats are decorated with flags and religious symbols, such as wooden crosses and painted angels. A recurring theme in the decorations is the New Testament passage in which Jesus promises to make his followers "fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19).

The first Bayou La Batre fleet blessing was in 1949, when Louisiana native Clarence Mallet organized it to bring the fishing village custom of his home state to Alabama. The Rev. Alex O'Neill conducted the first blessing at the Bayou Ice Plant.

Bayou La Batre baseball park nears completion

Zirlott Park in Bayou La Batre remains a dirt field, but shiny silver fences now map out three future baseball fields where last year there was a stark gravel lot lined by rows of travel trailers -- emergency shelter for Hurricane Katrina victims.

The city's decades-old youth ballpark was ripped up after the 2005 storm in order to build what federal officials said was the state's only post-Katrina travel trailer park run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency rather than by the proprietors of an already existing recreational vehicle park.

Now after four months of digging up sewer and power lines and trucking in tons of fill dirt, a contractor is expected to finish rebuilding the park and return it to the city by June 7.

"It wasn't ready for the start of baseball this year, but I fully expect it to be ready by football season," said Bayou La Batre Councilman George Ramires, who oversees the city's parks. "And I believe it's going to look a lot nicer than what we had before."

Soon after Hurricane Katrina, the city turned over the three baseball fields and one football field at Zirlott Park to FEMA to provide emergency shelter for storm victims.

In June 2006, after months of complaints from a group of south Mobile County parents that their children needed a place to play ball again, FEMA agreed to rebuild the youth ball fields at the park.

FEMA asked the Corps of Engineers to oversee the park's reconstruction. The corps hired a contractor, Carter's Contracting Services of Andalusia, Ala., which started work in mid-December on the $1.52 million project, said Pat Robbins, spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The contractor was given until May 7 to finish the job, but due to rain in January and February, which prevented work at the muddy site, the contract was extended to June 7, Robbins said.

The park will have better drainage, designed by the corps, all its outfields will be covered in sod, and the contractor will install 1,600 linear feet of asphalt sidewalks to make the park wheelchair-accessible and compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, city and corps officials said.

The park's football field, where federal officials never located travel trailers but used as an equipment staging area, is already restored and seeded with new grass, Ramires said.

One concerned resident said he is anything but enthusiastic about the ballpark that FEMA is building for the city.

Steve Sprinkle, a local net maker who was among the community members who chipped in to build the park in the early 1970s, said he believes the materials being used at the site are flimsy.

FEMA is replacing concrete bleachers with aluminum bleachers, Sprinkle said. Also, FEMA may not replace the sprinkler system that had irrigated the grass in each outfield, he said.

"That park is going to fall apart six months after they hand it over to the city," Sprinkle said.

Officials with FEMA and the city of Bayou La Batre said that's not true.

"What does Steve mean by concrete bleachers? There were concrete block pillars on each side, and the seats were two 1-by-12 inch wood slats," Ramires said. "I think aluminum bleachers will be an improvement."

But, he said, the jury is still out on the sprinkler system.

Robbins said FEMA has yet to receive requested information from the city about the sprinkler system that existed before the storm. Without that information, the agency can't purchase and install a similar sprinkler system, he said.

Ramires said he didn't know whether the city has any paperwork on the sprinklers.

Mayor Stan Wright said that if FEMA doesn't install sprinklers, the city will.