Re: Manatee, Worth Saving?
Trollhole, thank you so much for starting this thread.I've been just dying to opine about the seacow problem. I'll start by stating the entire issue from as non-biased a description of the contraversy as is possable, and in a seperate post, tell you how I feel about it all...And trust me, I feel.<br /><br />Down here in Florida, we have many growing pains.One of them is the West Indian Manatee and it's "natural" habitat being developed by us human types. Those humans that live on the water usually have boats.Seacows only travel about 5MPH at WOT, not being able to get away from boats.<br />It is a real danger for both the seacow and the boater,his passengers, and of course, his equipment.<br /><br />The species is not indigenous, and those we have here, are living on the northern edge of thier present range.<br />They are a slow-moving, gentle, warm-blooded creature with not much brain power. They are vegitarian, with no natural ememies,other than sharks, and the cold water in winter.<br />Mnatees and "dogong" are related,bt notte exat ae, (like Mountain lions and Florida panthers).<br /><br />The debate is raging down here, between boaters groups (boaters,skiers,fishermen, and the industries they support), and the Save the Manatee Club, with the state of florida,and federal Fish and wildlife Commissions in the middle of what has become a heated battle.<br />Let me state here I don't know of anyone on any side of this debate that is against protection of the West Indies Manatee. <br />But some of those groups involved are 'ate-up' and only see thier cause, be it boater's group, or SMC, thus, losing site of the big picture, which, of course, is the protection of the seacow.<br />In 1999, the SMC sued the FFWC over "lack of protection implimentation for an endangered species", and won.<br />Last year, the state's FWC did an airial cencus,and reported 3000 anatees in state waters.<br />This was way up from previous counts, and a move was started to have the manatee's protection status relaxed from "endangered" to "protected".<br />The 2003 census was done three weeks ago, and an error in the count led the way for a recount....I can hear the laughter allready...Typical of Florida, I know.<br />But seriously, the count had to be redone.The official count this year is 3100, a slight increase.<br />While all this silliness is taking place, the FWC has added many idle zones, and have threatened even more. The SMC also has gotten the FWC to cease and desist as pretains to dock permits, claiming "the docks are for boats---the more boats, the more boat-related manatee deaths".<br /><br />The boater's groups finally woke up to this when those that could afford waterfront property found out they could have a home right on the river....They just couldn't have a dock--Claims made by these folks are, "A dock has never killed a manatee".<br />Boaters and marina owners found out they had to idle everywhere, making it impractical to travel via boat. They made posters like, "Manatees are not endangered,.Your boating and property rights are", and "Save the Humans".<br /><br />Like I said, the battle lines have been drawn. And it will never end ,because nobody is blinking anymore!
