Manatees, aquatic mammals inhabiting Florida' s rivers and coastal waters, swim close to the surface and are frequently killed in collisions with boats. To address the problem, boat traffic in manatee-populated waters is being required to maintain very low speeds. Unfortunately, manatees are unable to hear low-pitched sounds and a boat' s sound lowers in pitch as the boat slows. Ttherefore, this approach may in fact make things worse rather than better.
When experimenters exposed manatees to the recorded sounds of boats moving at various speeds, the creatures were unable to discern the sounds over normal background noise, casting doubt on the conclusion.