MIAMI, Florida (31 Dec 2003) -- The latest figures on Florida's manatee population show mixed results on efforts to boost the lumbering mammal's numbers, leaving boaters and environmentalists fighting over what should be done to protect the endangered species. Manatee deaths in Florida reached the second-highest number on record in 2003, but the fewest manatees in five years died in collisions with watercraft, according to data through Dec. 19 from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Florida is the only state with a permanent natural manatee population, so the numbers are closely watched. A final accounting of manatee death statistics for 2003 will be released Friday. Boaters said that because only 70 of the 361 deaths in 2003 were caused by watercraft, boating speed zones and restrictions on dock construction should be scaled back. In 2002, a record 95 of 305 manatee deaths were caused by watercraft. But environmentalists point to the uncertainty over whether Florida's manatee population is stable or growing. One of the criteria to remove manatees from the federal endangered species list is for their population numbers to be stable or increasing. An estimated 360 manatees were born in 2003, so the population is, at best, stable, state manatee biologist Bruce Ackerman said Wednesday. Ackerman runs the aerial surveys the commission does of the manatee population each year, and the latest count was 3,113, in January 2003. But Ackerman acknowledges that the surveys are not an exact science, and the population could vary greatly. That's why environmentalists say long-term trends are more important than annual figures. | | Manatee ''This is just another bad year on top of 10 bad years,'' said Suzanne Tarr, staff biologist at Save the Manatee Club. Environmentalists say better enforcement of manatee protection rules are necessary. The rules in 24 of Florida's 67 counties require boaters to either travel at idle speed, slow speed or no faster than 25 mph in channels. But boaters contend there are better ways to protect manatees, such as developing satellite tracking technology so boaters can avoid the animals. They also say that more should be spent on studying ways to protect manatees from red- tide outbreaks, which boosted the number of manatee deaths last year and in 1996, when a record 415 died. ''It comes across in the press that boaters just want to kill manatees. That's not the case,'' said Chris Kewley, president of the Marine Industry Association of Central Florida. SOURCE - Tampa Tribune |
