Harassment In Kings Bay

‘Methods: To determine manatee mortality during the years 1974 to 2006 in Broward County, Florida, I gathered data from the literature of several different sources within the Florida area. The sources came from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation (FWC), The Broward County Manatee Protection Plan, and a book called Observations On Manatee Mortality In South Florida. All of the sources collected information by both federal and state agencies and most importantly the Manatee Carcass Salvage Program the Florida Wildlife Conservation had created. This program as well as the other sources all used post-mortem examinations to try and find out the probable cause of death of any found or reported manatees (Broward County et al 2008). Both the FWC and the Broward County Protection Plan used 174 different manatee carcasses to determine the probable cause of

"There is proof that the manatees were around for about 60 million years and that they were related to the elephant. It was also learned that they were land animals and that over time they learned to survive in the water".

Historical levels of the Southern Resident Orca population are currently estimated to have been as high as 200 (Fisheries.noaa.gov, 2015). The population as of 31st December 2015 was calculated at just 84 individuals (Center for Whale Research, 2015). There is limited data on the population before the mid 70’s so it is unknown what the population pattern looked like prior to this. Appendix A shows a graph documenting the population data found by a census started in 1974, as well as modelled data from 1960 to 1974. The graph starts with a low population, possibly explained by the frequent capture of live animals for marine parks (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2014, p. 3). After this period the graph shows fluctuations in the population, then a steady growth resulting in a peak in 1995, then a sharp decline – almost 20% until 2001. This fast decline is what prompted governments to first list the population a threatened (United States Environmental Agency, 2014). The population has remained stable in the following years but now has an endangered status (Fisheries.noaa.gov, 2015).

Last year alone over 15% of the Florida manatee population was killed by a human in a preventable way (Pittman). These preventable ways include polluting the waters, the use of fishing nets, and the wrongful usage of motor boats. Manatees have also been on the endangered species list since 1973. They first made it onto this list because their entire population

This exceptionally charismatic megafauna has become synonymous with Florida along with “snowbirds”, orange juice, and Mickey Mouse but the Florida manatee may not be as permanent as its counterparts. Since being declared as endangered, the Florida manatee, a subspecies of the West Indian manatee, has been at the center of conservation efforts throughout the east coast of the United States. While human involvement has been at the crux of the increasing population, it can be argued that the best way to save this species is by taking humans out of the picture altogether.

The population decline in monk seals is due to several different factors with the biggest reason due to the low pup and juvenile survival rates (Curtice et al, 2011). At the Kure Atoll on the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, 32 pups were observed in 1964 and 30 pups were observed in 1965. Of these pups born, all but one died or disappeared within 60 days after birth. This was also seen in the 1970’s at Green Island and Kure Atoll, where a mean population of 17 and 14 seals, respectively, was counted on these beaches, with a birth total of 10 showing a population decline of 70% (Gilmartin et al, 2011). The juvenile survival rate is still seen today with one in five monk seals surviving to the reproductive age, with one year old seals having the highest mortality rates (Norris et al, 2011).

West Indian manatees have special adaptations that have enabled them to become very comfortable in their water habitat. They have no clavicles, short nails in their flippers, only 3-4 phalanges, a flattened paddle-like tail, valvular nostrils located on top of their snouth, no external pinnae, and their ribs have a deeper arch, amongst other adaptation that will be discussed throughout this paper.

According to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) Preliminary Manatee Mortality Report, 2016 resulted in the greatest number of manatee mortalities due to watercraft collisions . Watercraft collisions are the greatest threat to the Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus). In January of 2015, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) purposed to downlist manatees from endangered to threatened under the Endangered Species Act. However, downlisting is only permissible if the threats to an endangered species survival have been mitigated. Given the preliminary 2016 manatee mortality data, the major threat to manatees has been increasing not decreasing.

I will be doing my protection Plan project on the Florida Manatees. I chose this species because a lot of manatees are dying because of threats like ''collision with watercraft'' the propellers on the boat inflict serious and fatal wounds to the manatee, most manatees have scars on their bodies because of ''Collision with watercraft''. Another threat to manatees is habitat loss. Habitat loss is the ''greatest-long-term'' threat to manatees. It is also the most common cause of their death.

The threats of the Florida manatee are watercraft collision, which is the leading human-caused treat of manatees. Propellers or boat hulls inflict serious and moral wounds to the manatee. Most manatees have scars on their bodies. Another threat for manatees is habitat loss; the greatest long-term threat to manatees is the loss of warm water habitats that manatees need to survive. At water temperatures below 68 degrees, the cold water can become dangerous or even fatal to manatees. Over the past 10 years a large number of manatees have died for cold water stress. ‘’ In the winter of 2010 a total of 766 manatees were killed by cold stress. ‘’

Cetacean bycatch is an ongoing problem in the oceans of the world. Cetaceans are defined as whales, dolphins and porpoises(CBRC 1). Bycatch is “marine mammals that are “captured” but discarded”(Read 2). This happens when fishing industries are fishing for a certain type of marine animal and other marine animals are caught accidentally along with the intended catch. Many times, this leads to the death of the animal that was not meant to be caught, and the animal is tossed back into the ocean. This happens with all kinds of marine life, and it has caused the depletion of many different species. However, this is specifically bad for cetaceans, such as dolphins and whales, because they have such a long lifespan(Brown 2). They also take a very long time to mature(Brown 2). These factors make catching these animals very detrimental to the species as a whole because it takes longer for them to reach an age where they can reproduce(Brown 2). The population of many cetaceans have decreased exponentially. When there is someone watching the nets that cetaceans are accidentally caught in, many times they can be saved. However, there are only select few types of fishing methods that do this, and they are not of the prevalent fishing methods that produce cetacean bycatch. This is a problem because there is a connection between most living animals. If a certain part of the connection is eliminated, it will all fall apart. For example, the relationship between

Manatees are herbivores and therefore consume a wide variety of aquatic vegetation. Within a manatee’s large intestine exists a microbial environment that helps manatees to be able to digest large amounts of plant material. A manatee can consume 10-15% of their body weight in vegetation daily. On average manatees can weigh between 800 and 1,200 pounds. Therefore, a manatee can consume about 80 to 180 pounds of vegetation per day! Manatees mostly graze upon submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), emergent and floating vegetation, but manatees have also been spotted feeding on the leaves from overhanging branches, like that of a mangrove tree. Manatees also consume various species of algae found on surfaces such as rocks or boat docks. Additionally,

Despite rumors of being ruthless beasts who kill wildlife specialists, stingrays are relaxed, intelligent, and majestic creatures. Kneeling in the pale blue water of the Schooner Keys, Bahamas, grains of rough sand and tiny rocks dug into my kneecaps. I was holding a stingray in my arms, her barb wrapped in velcro straps and her tiny, triangle tip nose pushed into my stomach. My palms cupped against the cartilage of her wings. This adolescent stingray, and many more like her, made my heart melt.

Manatees, the tender “sea cows” of the ocean, are the huge, herbivorous aquatic creatures that sweep across the waters in different parts of the world. Although a threat to anyone at all, manatees have been killed for ages, first by natural populations, and today is endangered by habitat hunting, destruction, and captivity. Wildlife rescue team members, only a few days ago, in the center of Brazil’s Amazonian wetlands spotted an abandoned, orphaned baby manatee.

The Manatee or more commonly known as the “Sea Cow”, can only be found in warmer waters like in Florida and in that area. Manatees are large marine mammals, and they can weigh up to more than 500kg can also grow up to lengths of over 4.5 meters. Now despite their large size, it’s not really uncommon for Manatees to age more than 70 years old. So the manatee spends most of its time grazing the sea grass in the shallow waters they are herbivores and, therefore really only feed on seagrass, algae, they are known to have eaten small fish but, not necessarily on purpose and, they live by the coast also.