Capt. Frank Hopkins wrote:

The point is: there are more then 4000 of the supra nourished herbivores
in the St. Johns River in the September Census. I do not have the
numbers for south FL and Tampa Bay. Perhaps you can provide them and add
the two together. At what point does the population become so large that
it becomes viable? When does a creature no longer need special
endangerment protection. Manatees are still a protected species, they
won't lose that status-ever! The current protection zones are working.
The population increase proves it. In Jacksonville and other cities on
the river, we don't need or want the draconian measures the F&G C are
planning. 25 mph in the channal? gimme a break. My cruiser barely planes
at 25. The sea cow doesn't even like the water in the channel because 1.
its too deep. The cow don't like water more then 8 or 9 feet deep. 2.
there is too much current for it to squat on the bottom. It would be
washed out to sea. 3 No food there. Fat cow don't go where there is no
food (period). Increasing the buffer zones from 1000 feet to 3000 feet
is just plain nuts.



There's a lot of scientifically invalid claims in your post, Frank, and
a little silliness, too. I lived in the Jax-St. Augustine area for more
than five years, and on occasion would see manatees "out in the channel"
of the St. Johns River. I've also seen them doing quite well against the
currents at Mayport and St. Augustine inlets, and I've seen them under
the bridges at Green Cove Springs and Doctors' Lake.



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