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Manatee No Longer An Endangered Species (miamiherald.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the how-now-sea-cow dept.

An anonymous reader quotes the Miami Herald: The manatee -- for decades the poster mammal for environmental decline in Florida -- is officially no longer an endangered species. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Thursday that the manatee will instead be designated "threatened" -- a status change that reflects a boom in population over the last decade. In February, Florida wildlife managers released preliminary results of an annual count that recorded 6,620 manatees lumbering in the warm waters of Florida's lagoons, springs and canals... "We believe this is a devastating blow to manatees," Patrick Rose, Executive Director for Save the Manatee Club, said in a statement. "A federal reclassification at this time will seriously undermine the chances of securing the manatee's long- term survival."
It was the third consecutive year to see an increase in the estimated population of manatees.

5 of 89 comments (clear)

  1. Patrick by BinBoy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    > a status change that reflects a boom in population over the last decade.
    > "We believe this is a devastating blow to manatees," Patrick Rose, Executive Director for Save the Manatee Club, said in a statement.

    Patrick sounds like a really fun guy -- always looking at the positive side of things.

    1. Re: Patrick by Nidi62 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I think Patruck is more worried about what reclassification would do to the longterm survival of his cushy Executive Director job at the Save the Manatees Club than he is the survival of the manatees.

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    2. Re:Patrick by mellon · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The problem is that just a couple of years ago manatees were dying off in large numbers—there were losses in some years of something like 30% of the total population, as a result of unusually cold waters. The current population peak coincides with a period of unusually warm water following El Niño. It's possible with global warming that that temperature trend will continue, but by no means guaranteed. So taking them off the endangered species list is premature. A population of 6000 is not exactly huge.

  2. Re:"a devastating blow to manatees" by cirby · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I do live in Florida.

    And I do support the common sense restrictions on things like speedboats in areas where manatees live, and laws keeping people from annoying them.

    You can stop talking now.

  3. Re:Oh the huge manatee by JoeMerchant · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If DT can effectively end fire ants, I will personally kiss the ring.