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Manatee protection
Subject: Manatee protection
From: As I understand it, it it the "west indian manatee" because it is from West India, and brought to South florida because it would eat the Hyasishts (spelling) For better or worst, the Manatee is indigenous to Florida. http://northflorida.fws.gov/manatee/...tive-facts.htm Capt. Bill |
#12
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Manatee protection
In article ,
(LaBomba182) writes: | Subject: Manatee protection | From: | | As I understand it, it it the "west indian manatee" because it is from West | India, and brought to South florida because it would eat the Hyasishts | (spelling) | | For better or worst, the Manatee is indigenous to Florida. | | http://northflorida.fws.gov/manatee/...tive-facts.htm | | Capt. Bill | We have the story they were imported, they are native, and that they were native but were exterminated so others were imported. And then there is the issue of whether there are different species/subspecies/varieties. None in Minnesota in the wild. -- Del Cecchi Personal Opinions Only |
#13
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Manatee protection
Just goes to show, you learn something every day. Thanks Bill
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#14
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Manatee protection
I agree that the "save the Manatee" movement is justifying it's own
existence. However, in the interest of truth, Steller's Sea Cow was an Arctic manatee which was hunted to extinction in the 1700's. After a thorough search, I can not find any documented support for the theory that the Florida Manatee ever became extinct as stated in the original post. "noah" wrote in message ... 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 |
#15
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Manatee protection
Steller's Sea Cow was an
Arctic manatee I can't imagine that our manatee is very closely related to any arctic species. They get sick and die when the water gets much below 70f. Even in SW Fla the bays and rivers cruise around 65-70f for 3-4 months a year, hence the power plant connection. Historically there may have been some hot spring connections but the strain on the fresh water supplies have pretty much made springs a thing of the past. (and sink holes a regular occurance) My 200' well used to free flow, now the water level is below 30 feet in the winter. |
#16
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Manatee protection
"Gfretwell" wrote in message
... Steller's Sea Cow was an Arctic manatee I can't imagine that our manatee is very closely related to any arctic species. They get sick and die when the water gets much below 70f. Even in SW Fla the bays and rivers cruise around 65-70f for 3-4 months a year, hence the power plant connection.... The Stellar's Sea Cow was a member of the "manatee family" (Sirenian - which includes manatees and dugongs) which lived in Arctic waters. It was hunted to extinction in the 1700s. It was the only member of this group that didn't live in warm water. DJ |
#17
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Manatee protection
bb wrote in message . ..
On 19 Aug 2003 13:58:36 -0700, (Scott McFadden) wrote: Mother Nature always gets around to dealing with abnormally high animal populations whether we humans like it or not. She is not at all "pretty and nice" about it, either. There's one animal in particular that has been left out of this for awhile. Which one might that be? Surely not humans as the self inflicted, devastating, carnages of WW1 & WW2 show we are quite effective at "limiting" our population, all by ourselves. -- SJM |
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