On Tue, 19 Aug 2003 16:42:57 GMT, "K W" wrote:

Muddy waters of Manatee protection

Tampa Bay bottom grasses succumb to rape by the Manatee.

The Florida manatee (stellar sea cow) was hunted to extinction by Indians
and early settlers back in 1768. Years later, the West Indian variety was
imported for a purpose.

According to the Flagler museum, the manatees were imported during the early
1900's
by Henry Flagler when he was building the railroad. They were imported as a
source of food for the four-thousand some-odd railroad construction crews.
There reason to import them from the west Indies was that they could be kept
close by, kept fresh in sea pens until needed, high protein, low fat, good
tasting. The sea cows were kept in the Fla. Keys in the "Pens" which you can
still see on the maps.

The shanghaied sea cows were later used to clean out canals along roadways.
Like other non-indigenous animals they were allowed to roam outside their
bounds and have been multiplying like rabbits ever since. Along the way
consuming sea grass and bottom cover by the ton. Tampa Bay has been trying
to recover its needed sea grass since man destroyed it, by dredging and
pollution run-off, years ago.

Manatees feed on a wide variety of submerged and shoreline vegetation, and
in Florida they feed on over 60 species of plants. These include turtle
grass, shoal grass and mangrove leaves. The average adult Manatee consumes
up to 108 lb of wet vegetation per day. Hypothetically, that means 300
manatees in Tampa Bay will consume 32,400 pounds of bottom grass per day. At
that rate we are in trouble.

Manatees feed off the bottom, and at the surface. They have even been known
to haul themselves partially out of the water to eat bank vegetation.
Manatees use their front flippers and large, flexible lips to manipulate
vegetation. Horny, ridged pads at the front of a manatee's palate (roof of
the mouth) and lower jaw break vegetation into small pieces. Behind these
pads, molars grind the food into digestible size.

Many agencies over the years have attempted to plant sea grasses to help the
bay to return to its pristine past. Captain Bill Baxter remembers a humorous
1966 meeting of the St. Petersburg underwater club at Johnny Leverocks
restaurant on US Hwy 19. The membership was being addressed by a group of
marine scientist and biologist asking for training assistance in their
underwater grass replenishment project. The humorous incident came when one
of the scuba-diver members asked the biologist why they did not allow the
underwater club members to do the job for them. The answer from the
biologist was " Its easier to teach a biologist to be a scuba-diver, than to
teach a scuba-diver to be a biologist". The reason we bring up this bit of
humor is not for the laugh but to indicate that this effort to re-grass
Tampa Bay's bottom is not a new idea.

The sweet and docile look of the current (West Indian) sea cow makes the
average person want to feed and handle this gentle mammal. Like those that
go to swim-with-the-porpoise attraction we seem to have an affinity for less
intelligent and friendly species.

In some parts of India, cattle are allowed to roam at will and are
considered sacred. There are pictures in National Geographic of water
buffalo knee deep in canals eating the grasses. Since cattle are not
considered sacred in the US, except for food, might we consider exchanging
these foreign sea cows for these four-legged canal grass-eating cattle so
that after completing the job the sea cow was suppose to do, we could end up
with the cattle on the BBQ grill.



Truthfully that may not work, but it was a cute idea. What is needed now is
a way to protect the sea grass of the bay and possibly re-locate the sea
cows back to the canals where the loss of vegetation is a benefit. Just
recently a number of Pilot Whales were transported from a holding station
back out into deep water. Those whales were bigger than most manatees. This
to indicate that transporting them to canals is not a major task.

Additionally, Manatees have successfully reproduced in several zoological
parks around the world, including Sea World Florida.

Muddying the waters by allowing manatees to destroy the needed bottom grass
does not serve mankind, the tourist industry or those of us who live in the
Bay area dreaming of a clean and pristine bay. Lets help the Manatees
fulfill its destiny and clean the Bay with a "Move the Manatee" effort.


You have forgotten only one major influence. Thanks to Henry Flagler,
and others, the human population in Florida has exploded. If the
manatees ate humans, perhaps there would be a better balance. )

I try my best to sympathise with the Florida boaters, but I can't
accept the "thump-thump" of regular, systematic, maiming of wildlife.

Whether the manatee is indigenous or not, it is here. Well, there.
Here in the Northeast, I see deer carcasses beside the road everyday
on the way to work. It is unfortunate, but the population of deer can
support the loss. I take it that the manatee population can't take
the daily loss from boats? Nature has a tendancy to take care of
herself, but the huge influences imposed by people can overwhelm that
process. Perhaps *we* are the problem.

noah