There was no correlation between attitude and years in residence in Florida,

distance of home from Tampa Bay waterfront, family income, or highest year of

education completed (Table 15).

Table 15. Correlations of boaters' attitude with experience with manatees, safe boating
 behavior and sociodemographic variables
 Pearson
 Item N Correlation p
 Experience
 Times seen manatees while boating 462 -.105* 0.02
 Times seen manatees while swimming 215 -.098 0.15
 Safe Boating Behavior
 Carrying nautical charts while boating 499 -.036 0.42
 Maintain a slower speed when boating in shallow water 496 .279** 0.00
 Watch out for manatees in shallow water
 Sociodemographic Background 500 .124** 0.00
 Years of boating experience 502 -.103* 0.02
 Times boated in Tampa Bay in past year 504 -.043 0.33
 Years in Florida 504 -.047 0.29
 Distance from home to Tampa Bay 500 .053 0.23
 Family's income 418 -.084 0.08
 Highest year of education 503 -.004 0.93
* correlation is significant at the .05 level
** correlation is significant at the .01 level

 Other Attitude Measures

 Boaters were asked about their willingness to pay for increased public education

and increased patrols for manatee protection. The treatment and control groups did not

differ in their willingness to pay for increased public education and patrols, or the mean

amount each group was willing to pay. Boaters that indicated a willingness to pay for

increased public education to protect the manatee had a significantly higher attitude score

than those who did not (t = 10.3, df= 406, p = 0.000); as did those who were willing to

pay for increased patrols (t = 5.95, df= 296, p = 0.000). There were no significant

differences in knowledge for those that indicated a willingness to pay for increased