THE FLORIDA MANATEE: PROTECTING THE GENTLE GIANT OF THE SOUTH
By Madi Salvati
I was born in Tampa Bay, Florida and lived there for ten
years of my life, so the Florida manatee has a special place in my heart. I
will never forget the first time I visited the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa and saw
the marine sanctuary for injured manatees. I couldn’t get over how gentle and
graceful they moved through the water. I also couldn’t imagine ever harming
such a beautiful creature, but unfortunately, that is the reality of this
organism’s existence.
DESCRIPTION & ECOLOGY:
The Florida manatee is a subspecies of the West Indian
manatee. They are massive mammals with skin that is rubbery, grey, and
wrinkled. They have paddle-like
forelimbs and a flat spatula-like tail.
Adults average about 9.8 feet in length and can weigh up to 2,200
pounds. Juveniles, also known as cafes, can be up to 4 feet in length and weigh
about 66 pounds.
The Florida manatee inhabits freshwater marine environments
and are concentrated mostly around the peninsula of Florida. They
are also found along the Gulf Coast near Texas and sometimes as far north as
Rhode Island. When the waters become colder in the autumn or fall near Florida,
the manatees seek out warm water refuges mostly provided by natural springs and
power plant outfalls.
These gentle mammals are herbivores and prefer sea grass and
a vast array of other aquatic plants.
They can be found grazing in sea grass beds in shallower waters.
GEOGRAPHIC &
POPULATION CHANGES:
Since the 1980s, the
means of monitoring trends in size of the overall population of manatees in the
southeastern U.S. haven’t been made possible. Although a considerable amount of
manatees congregate in warm-water refuges and most refuges are known, counting
methods have not been able to account for the uncertainty in the number of
manatees away from the refuges and the number of manatees which can’t be seen
because of turbid water.
The data on manatee populations that has been collected
based on counts of the animals in winter refuges using an aerial survey shows
that there at least 3,276 manatees, mostly congregated on the east coast of
Florida. By the numbers, in southwest Florida about 37% were accounted for, in
Northwest Florida about 12%, and on the Atlantic side of Florida about 47%. In
general, data collected has shown that manatee distribution and movement is
predictable, especially during the winter time when they migrate to warmer waters.
According to an article from Save the Manatee Club in Florida, a recent 2014 aerial survey found
that the population had increased to 4,831 manatees.
CAUSE OF LISTING
& MAIN THREATS:
Human-related
activities are the main cause of this species’ endangerment. The most
significant danger for manatees are injuries or deaths by boat strikes. Long-term
threats include the continual development along coastal environments by humans.
With more and more human-related activity along the coast, the availability of
warm-water refuges for manatees during winter also becomes uncertain.
DATE &
TYPE OF LISTING:
The Florida manatee is listed as ENDANGERED. It was first
listed as endangered in 1967. Although, according to an article published by The Guardian on August 29,
2014, their status as endangered may soon change due to successful recovery efforts.
RECOVERY PLAN
CRITERIA & GOALS:
The recovery plan to assure the long-term safety and
sustainability of the Florida manatee seeks to reclassify the manatee as
threatened. In order to do this the recovery plan suggests that there be a
reduction of threats to manatee habitat as well as reduction of threats by man-made
factors. This can be done by protecting warm-water refuges and reducing human
caused “take.” Also, the plan states that there needs to be identification of
other important manatee habitat and areas to provide proper protection. Actions
that need to be taken include minimizing the causes of disturbances harassment,
death, and injury of manatees. Also, determining a fixed a method of monitoring
populations as well as their habitats.
Sources:
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