The average knowledge score for the treatment group was 8.2 (SD = 2.4) and did

not differ from the score of the control group, 8.1 (SD = 2.5); (t = -0.73, df = 497,

p = 0.47), None of the individual knowledge items differed between the treatment and

control groups.

 There were no significant differences in knowledge for those that indicated a

willingness to pay for increased public education or for those that were willing to pay for

increased patrols

 Experience with manatees did not influence knowledge scores (Table 11).

Respondents that had seen manatees while boating or swimming, visited an area to see a

manatee or participated in an education program about manatees did not score differently

from respondents that had no experience with manatees.

 Knowledge was not correlated with the amount of times someone had seen a

manatee while boating or while swimming, carrying nautical charts while boating, or

watching out for manatees in shallow water (Table 12). Knowledge was correlated with

maintaining a slower speed while boating in shallow water (r = 0.087, p = 0.052, Table

12).

 There were no correlations between knowledge and the years of boating experience

or the number of times someone had boated in Tampa Bay in the last year; nor were

demographic variables correlated with knowledge, including years in Florida, the

distance from a person's home to the Tampa Bay waterfront, family's income, and the

highest year of education completed (Table 12).

 Attitudes about Manatees and their Conservation

 Nine items were used to assess boaters' attitudes about manatees, and conservation

efforts to protect them. Reliability analysis resulted in a Cronbach's alpha of .88, with an