Manatee off the list??

pair8head · Post by **pair8head** » April 9, 2007 10:17 am

MIAMI - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service might reclassify the manatee as threatened instead of endangered, a move suggesting the marine mammal has rebounded from the brink of extinction, according to an internal memo obtained by The Washington Post.

Rest of the article here. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070409/ap_ ... cAuP7MWM0F

Tiki Bar · Post by **Tiki Bar** » April 9, 2007 10:19 am

That's great news!

With a little help from their two-legged friends, I hope they continue to keep on keeping on!

Brown Eyed Girl · Post by **Brown Eyed Girl** » April 9, 2007 7:07 pm

On the contrary, this is not good news. This is simply the result of the massive amounts of boaters not wanting to follow the guidelines that are in place to protect the manatees, so they are using their power and considerable dollars to pressure the USFWS to look the other way and ignore the stats. The manatee population continues to suffer record losses every year, which does not add up to a sustainable population. Reclassifying them will only increase the number of losses since the first thing that will be done if this goes through will be to do away with the protected zones.

Money does indeed talk...

Moonie · Post by **Moonie** » April 9, 2007 8:05 pm

3,000 more or less, is not a number that leaves any room for error. Those numbers alone should keep the Manatee on the Endangered List.

chippewa · Post by **chippewa** » April 9, 2007 9:02 pm

Went to the manatee viewing center south of Tampa last fall. Very neat watching them in their own environment. 3,000 or so still sounds like a very small number to me.

Save a manatee, buy a t-shirt!

no it's not p***!

ToplessRideFL · Post by **ToplessRideFL** » April 10, 2007 7:05 am

chippewa wrote:Went to the manatee viewing center south of Tampa last fall. Very neat watching them in their own environment. 3,000 or so still sounds like a very small number to me.

I just hope being off the list doesnt mean th funding stops...or that people sort of forgrt about them.....

NorthernConch · Post by **NorthernConch** » April 10, 2007 9:37 am

Brown Eyed Girl wrote:On the contrary, this is not good news. This is simply the result of the massive amounts of boaters not wanting to follow the guidelines that are in place to protect the manatees, so they are using their power and considerable dollars to pressure the USFWS to look the other way and ignore the stats. The manatee population continues to suffer record losses every year, which does not add up to a sustainable population. Reclassifying them will only increase the number of losses since the first thing that will be done if this goes through will be to do away with the protected zones.

Money does indeed talk...

what BEG said. People wont be as careful with them because they arnt "endangered" anymore.

Tiki Bar · Post by **Tiki Bar** » April 10, 2007 10:06 am

I see your points, but it seems like progress to me... a small victory for the efforts of many people...

"...a move that indicates the animal has rebounded from the brink of extinction." Sounds good to me!

"The manatee remains protected under the federal Endangered Species Act, making it illegal to harass, poach or kill the animals."

"Federal endangered status means an animal is at immediate risk of extinction. Threatened status means a species could become endangered in the future if protections are not maintained." To me, I see it as a positive that it's no longer at immediate risk of extinction!

"This is an opportunity for all of our manatee partners to celebrate a conservation success milestone." Like I said... a small victory.

I could be wrong, and I'm only basing my opinion on the article (you can't beleive everything you read... it's on the internet, it must be true...) but it seems to me to say all the protections will stay in place, and conservation efforts will continue, and what they've been doing thus far is working.

NorthernConch · Post by **NorthernConch** » April 10, 2007 11:57 am

i do agree that it is a great step in the right direction but it is a big step in the wrong direction. The problem is now that they are not "endangered" and off the list means, to alot of people, all the way off the list.

It will just be a matter of time before the accidents and lack of concern start back up.

Catch&Release · Post by **Catch&Release** » April 10, 2007 2:00 pm

Manatees have very SLLLLLLLLLLLLLLOW rates of reproduction. In my opinion, a population of 3,000 is not very secure and should not be delisted.

Every manatee I have ever seen has had prop scars. Power boats are their #1 threat. I think the delisting from endangered to threatened has resulted more from efforts of Florida's power boating lobby which wants the no wake zones removed from many areas where manatees are found.

pojo · Post by **pojo** » April 10, 2007 4:08 pm

Its great news; HOWEVER... they are still a precious animal that needs our protection to continue to thrive

Moonie · Post by **Moonie** » April 10, 2007 4:12 pm

Catch&Release wrote:Manatees have very SLLLLLLLLLLLLLLOW rates of reproduction. In my opinion, a population of 3,000 is not very secure and should not be delisted.

Every manatee I have ever seen has had prop scars. Power boats are their #1 threat. I think the delisting from endangered to threatened has resulted more from efforts of Florida's power boating lobby which wants the no wake zones removed from many areas where manatees are found.

Bingo!!...as BEG said money talks...

Brown Eyed Girl · Post by **Brown Eyed Girl** » April 10, 2007 6:13 pm

USFWS comes up with 3000, a number no other organization seems to be able to match. And again, RECORD losses every year for the last several years. That means each year more manatees die, even with the current protections in place. Once they are removed from the list and the boating restrictions are eased, those numbers will skyrocket. And by the time anything is done to right the wrong, it will be too late to save them. The federal marine mammal protection act is nowhere near as heavily enforced as protection for endangered species. Sad but true. The reason the population as been able to sustain itself such as it is, is simply due to the protective measures that are in place and enforced. Those who can read the writing on the wall know that delisting is no victory...it's a death sentence.

Catch and Release is in the same page as I am...this is simply the result of a whole lot of money from the power boating lobby, not a true example of the endangered species act working like it has in other cases.

Time for Jimmy to ante up and put his money where his mouth is. Heck, at this point Conan is doing more for manatee awareness than Jimmy is.

Moonie · Post by **Moonie** » April 10, 2007 7:28 pm

It's newsworthy, around the J'ville area, for about 3 maybe 4 days...and I cannot recall when losing one has not involved power boats.

3,180 I believe, a few over 3,000 was the number that was in the news...that's probably a high estimate..

and even if it is the correct number, it's too low to risk taking them off the endangered list..