A piece at Treehugger by Jaymi Heimbuch documents the plight, in words and video, of some West Indian manatees in Florida (the subspecies Trichechus manatus latirostris; there are two other living species):
Conservation photographer Cristina Mittermeier points out that the “love” we have for manatees is also a source of trouble for the species. The animals come to Crystal River Springs as a refuge during the winter. It is a place for them to rest and conserve energy in warm waters. But with so little protection from the many people pressing in on them — including touching, riding, and otherwise harassing them, not to mention the injuries they sustain from boat propellers slicing into them as they sit just below the water’s surface — our desire to be near them is preventing them from getting that much needed rest.
Here, in a timelapse video made by Mittermeier and fellow photographer Neil Ever Osborne, you can see just how much interaction the manatees are forced to deal with all day, every day. You’ll even see a manatee stampede, which happens when a sudden loud noise onshore scares them. Mittermeier states that this happens several times a day. The video reveals just how little space manatees get for themselves, and how much more protection we need to be offering these animals who are, we cannot forget, members of an endangered species.
I can’t believe that people can be so callous as to disturb these wonderful and peaceful creatures, which, by the way, are endangered. This area should be declared off limits to boats and swimmers immediately.
h/t: Amy
Agreed. This requires oversight. Where are the responsible agencies?
furloughed?
Good one!
A manatee stampede certainly looks problematic for the manatees. However I’ve been in the water at Crystal River during the winter and the conditions didn’t appear overcrowded. Perhaps I was with a more responsible tour group.
In any event, swimming and boating near manatee habitat needs to be appropriately regulated.
I would think that proper enforcement of the Marine Mammals Protection Act would be sufficient, but perhaps economics is trumping regulation (I know that places like Crystal River and Homosassa are dependent on eco-tourism so priorities can be skewed).
As an aside, I have not chased after manatee, but I have had them come up to me at times. The best was when I was canoeing on the Wakulla River and saw a mother and her calf. I stopped paddling and kept my distance but the curious calf came right up to me and swam all around the canoe. It even tried to follow me, so I waited until it seemed to get bored before heading off.
P.S. Of course I say calf, but this guy was over half the length of the whole canoe!
Eco-tourism is a snare and a delusion.
Want to help an endangered ecosystem? Then don’t go to it as a lookie-loo. Stay at home. Think of all the jet fuel that won’t be burnt when you stay at home.
Tourism is nothing more than a form of cultural prostitution and has much less in its favor than real prostitution.
You struck me with that point about prostitution. I never thought of it quite that way. Well said and well done.
I agree to some extent but one thing tourism brings is revenue for locals who then have a reason to protect the wild animals they would perhaps otherwise persecute. That is why WWF works with communities these days rather than being outsiders who come in & dictate what to do.
However I would rather they were left alone… we can wonder from afar.
Reblogged this on hitchens67 Atheism WOW!! Campaign.
Reblogged this on Mark Solock Blog.
I’ve become a fan of webcams. It should be possible to rig up a series of webcams at the site including underwater to satisfy nosy animal lovers. … or animal planet could start showing shows about endangered animals instead of shows about “nuisance” animals being trapped.
(as long as they don’t cancel “Too Cute” puppies and kitten shows!)
ohmigosh while googling for more info I found this video. Check out the scars on these guys! I can’t imagine what it must have felt like to be cut up like that:
http://youtu.be/…6oDGrgBtQRQ
oops I tried to mess up the URL to make it not embed. Sorry Jerry!
I live in Florida and there are many waterways with signs warning boaters that they’re in a manatee area; the signs usually state to use low speed. Enforcement is a problem partly because there is SO much area to cover. All of that water means manatees are near impossible to avoid. Then there’s the manatee’s curiousity. And too many people ignore the warnings to not feed the them. This has created serious problems. The least objectionable watercraft would be one that is propelled by an oar, as Diego was in.
I dived Crystal River every January throughout the 1980’s, primarily to photograph fish, and the manatees were there in large numbers during that time. They were quite approachable, even curious, but nobody ever touched one or harassed one. There was a floating line that represented and no trespass zone around the margin of the spring where the manatees spent the winter. While underwater, or even snorkeling, you had to be aware of that line and your position in relation to it. Enforcement by USFWS was intense. In fact, I was traveling on one trip with a fishery biologist from the FWS and he wandered, quite accidentally, into that zone. The officer on duty gave him a 70 dollar ticket (1988 dollars) then they chatted awhile. He made a mistake and he knew it. I would hope that kind of Draconian enforcement is still practiced, but somehow I doubt that.
It will go the way of Steller’s sea cow…
“I can’t believe that people can be so callous as to disturb these wonderful and peaceful creatures”
I’m not so sure callous is the proper word here. I think this is largely due to people not being exposed to enough nature, so just like little kids their impulse is to get as close to animals as possible in order to investigate. Also, I think the tendency of many people to treat charismatic wild animals as if they were little people in fur coats (cough, Professor Ceiling Cat, cough) reinforces this kind of behavior.