Manatees Off Florida Endangered List
 

Manatees Off Florida Endangered Species List
By BRIAN SKOLOFF, AP

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (June 9) - The state wildlife commission has voted to take the manatee off Florida's endangered species list, saying the animal's population is on the rebound.



John Raoux, AP
The largest known cause of death for manatees is collisions with boats during cold weather months. That's when they swim in warm water canals in search of food.




The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to designate the manatee as a threatened species rather than endangered. It also voted to remove the bald eagle from its list of threatened species.

State officials said the decisions would not affect how the species are protected. Both the bald eagle and manatee remain protected under federal law, including the 1973 Endangered Species Act. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service considers the manatee endangered and the bald eagle threatened.

"There will be no less protection," commission spokesman Henry Cabbage said.

But some environmentalists said the reclassifications could set in motion a downward spiral of state funding and protections.

"As species like the manatee are reclassified to a less imperiled status before their populations have actually recovered, state funding for research, management and law enforcement will likely be directed elsewhere," said attorney Martha Collins.

Collins represents 17 environmental groups who last week filed a petition with the state seeking to have the entire protection classification system revamped.

The state's classification system consists of three categories: endangered, threatened and special concern. They are based on a species' population, how fast it is declining and when extinction is projected, among other factors.

Scientists have said the manatee population is expected to drop 50 percent over the next five decades because of habitat loss, boat collisions and red tide algae. Still, they said the species is not endangered - a classification that denotes species on the brink of extinction.

An annual survey released in February found 3,116 manatees in Florida waters, up from 1,267 in 1991, the first year the census was conducted. But state scientists said the increase shown in the survey is partly a result of better techniques for finding the animals.


06/09/06 08:01 EDT


Copyright 2006 The Associated Press

Re: Manatees Off Florida Endangered List
 

WTF do you EVEN CARE?? You boatless bastard... :evilb: :p

Re: Manatees Off Florida Endangered List
 

Who are you calling bastard ? You freaking pontoon driving, no show key west, sloppy joe beer drinking, Loosing your scooter, bottom lips dribblin fool :evilb:

Re: Manatees Off Florida Endangered List
 

What scooter????????????? :evilb: Must have been the year you didn't so up either.... :D

Re: Manatees Off Florida Endangered List
 

See you are still in denial :drink:

Didn't you notice you are still paying monthly on your credit card for the rental? :drink:

Re: Manatees Off Florida Endangered List
 

Damn, I been fighting that charge for over a year on a monthly basis. Thanks for the info now I KNOW.. :evilb: :drink: :eek:

Re: Manatees Off Florida Endangered List
 

Don't feel bad, R Addiction has been also. In fact you may want to inquire with him for your lost sling shot speedo, ( :p The pink one ) :evilb:

Re: Manatees Off Florida Endangered List
 

:( :chimp: :chick: :mouse: :panda: :woohoo: :stupid:

Re: Manatees Off Florida Endangered List
 

Ahhh great
Natures D student is actually learning after you eat all the sea grass in one area maybe its a good idea to swim to another area to look for more sea grass.
I have no idea how that sea cow has survived a gazillion years of evolution being as dumb as it is. I feel bad for them and I hate seeing them with the prop marks on their back but most animals that see a sharp stainless steel propellor buzzing toward them at about 30-70 MPH most turn duck and run, these dumb things (that RChevelle thinks taste like chicken) just swim into the props as they dookie along about a foot or two feet under the surface so you cant see them.
Most of the time the reason they die, They eat the sea grass in a cove or something and then just stay there waiting for the sea grass to grow back, meanwhile they starve to death waiting.
We are talking about animals that make the platapus look like astro physicists.
Dumber than the gum you scraped off of your shoe last year!
Tres Martin had a link on one of his sites about how boating collisions with these chicken tasting bastards have reported about 3-4 lives of these things. But yet the whole state has to be mindful of these things.
Thats fine, im not complaining about the idle zones in the intra coastal waterways but why is it you can run in some spots and not others, if they are populating the ICW then how could you have zones for running and zones for idling? Whole concept of what they are doing to protect these hambones is just crazy.
My 2 cents
J