Picture of the Day: Dead Manatees. By Geniusofdespair

All Dead.

Manatees don't reproduce like rabbits:

As with most large mammals, manatees have a low reproductive rate. Manatees are not sexually mature until they are about five years old. On average, one calf is born every two to five years, and twins are rare. Intervals between births range from two to five years. A two-year interval may occur when a female, or cow, loses a calf soon after birth. The gestation period for female manatees is about a year.

This is why I think that Manatees should not have been de-listed as endangered last week. They breed too slowly and die too quickly at our hands. It is believed their lifespan is about 60 years if they aren't killed first.

Manatees Know Not What They Do. By Geniusofdespair

Manatee Protection: Going, Going, Gone.

I have a go fast boat. We were going slowly down the Little River with a man on the bow watching for manatees (the Little River is a popular spot for the mammals). There was a scream of "Shut it off!"  We shut off the engines because about 6 inches from the top of the water almost touching the boat were 3 manatees, 1 a baby in a lazy float not in the least deterred by our boat. We shut off the engines and watched the manatees float by under our boat as we floated in the other direction. Yes, these dear creatures need our protection.

After that incident I realized, Manatees don't know to get out of  our way. We have to get out of theirs. Do you hear that officials? Take it to heart.

Did I mention that the Feds delisted the Manatee this week as an endangered species:

Mike Oetker, southeast regional director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announced the reclassification of the West Indian manatee from endangered to threatened during a press conference at the Miami Seaquarium on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016. "We believe the manatee is no longer endangered," he said

Slow boat zones for manatees are hardly enough, but expect them to be eased into speed zones soon. You think Leonard DiCaprio's back is scarred in the movie Revenant, just look at our fellow mammal's back from boat incidents. That is how they identify these creatures: by their scars.

ALSO READ THE TEA PARTY WAR AGAINST MANATEES...THE TEA PARTY IS WINNING.

Response to Feds from Save the Manatee Club.

The Great Tea Party War Against Manatees. By Geniusofdespair

Edna Mattos and a shitload (800) of her Citrus County Tea Party Patriots hate the protection given to this lettuce eating slug saying: We can't elevate nature above people.

Craig Pittman, the great Environmental Writer for the Tampa Bay Times, wrote:

A Citrus County tea party group has announced that it's fighting new restrictions on boating and other human activities in Kings Bay that have been proposed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

"We cannot elevate nature above people," explained Edna Mattos, 63, leader of the Citrus County Tea Party Patriots, in an interview. "That's against the Bible and the Bill of Rights."

Edna, you had better talk to Pope Francis and tell him a thing or two. He has been saying some pretty inflammatory things about animals, reciting encyclicals like:

“Teach us to discover the worth of each thing, to be filled with awe and contemplation, to recognize that we are profoundly united with every creature as we journey towards your infinite light.”

Edna, what are we going to do with this nature and animal loving Pope? And what about Job? What did he say in the Bible (Job 12:7-0):

7 "But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you;
8 or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you.
9 Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?
10 In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.

So what Bible have you been reading Ms. Edna Mattos? Does it really mention motorboat rights?

P.S. County Commissioner Bruno Barreiro OUR Miami Dade County Commissioner also wants to ease our manatee protection plan. Watch out for him!!! He called off a vote on it in 2014 but I think he is at it again.

Manatee Drinking From Hose in Miami Beach. By Geniusofdespair

(direct to video of Manatee grabbing a hose with a flipper and drinking from it)

This is not a good thing. Manatees should not feel so safe around people and boats. It does show how smart they are. Smarter than a lot of the Homestead voting public.

Smokey the Manatee Isn't Dead! By Geniusofdespair

That white thing is a propeller scar on the Manatee's back.

They found my manatee Smokey! He is in a marina nearby. I wrote about him on May 1st. They identified him from his scar.

The vet from Miami Seaquarium and biologists from FWC spent some time with Smokey Thursday. He is a large male. His size, behavior, breathing and swimming were normal.

They catalogued his injuries and they are going to monitor his behavior and location. They are not going to capture him unless they see any changes indicating he needs rehabilitation.

Thank God you are alive Smokey! I thought you were a goner.

You are a tough Manatee!

Did I See a Manatee In the Throes of Death Yesterday? By Geniusofdespair

Yesterday when we saw this manatee hanging out between the boats at about 9:45 am. He looked in distress. We called the Manatee Help Hotline 1-888-404-FWCC twice yesterday. After the first call, a very nice guy from Fish and Wildlife came in a boat 4 or 5 hours later. I was told he was down South. He said the Manatee shouldn't be hanging around the surface like that, he called someone who said the breathing was timing okay at about 3 minutes. The soonest they could come back to check on the Manatee was Friday -- 3 days? Some quick service. The Manatee Slowline I would call it.

It looked likes a piece of tape on the Manatee's back. When the Manatee took a breath it would swell up in that area.

It was breathing. The Manatee was about 8 feet long.

It was hardly moving, but then they aren't exactly greyhounds of the sea. It shouldn't be this far out of the water. I was told that what looked like white tape is actually boat scarring.

This is near dusk, about 7 hours later. The Manatee was so still I thought it was dead, just floating in the middle of the pond. The Manatee was taking breaths not that often. I went 1/2 an hour before this one and it was near the seawall, it was taking breaths every 30 to 60 seconds, which I am told is not good. This was one big manatee, as long as the width of the boats.

When I called Fish and Wildlife at about 5:30 or 6 pm I started talking and the girl said, don't go near Manatees before I had a chance to say anything. Geez, I was standing at a seawall looking down at it. What a putz she was. You have to LISTEN first girl before you lecture someone calling for help.

I am going now to take a picture now and see how (Lets call him Smokey, the same name as my virtural dog/cat) Smokey is doing. I hope Smokey is gone, foraging in deeper water.

Morale of this story: There isn't much you can do to help with a sea mammal weighing almost a ton. I am not ragging on Fish and Wildlife. It is a big area to patrol.

Just got back: He is gone this morning. Goodbye Smokey, I hope it wasn't just the tide that took you away.

Normal Manatee, what looked like tape on Smokey is boat propeller scarring (see the side of this Manatee).

Scuttle the Manatee Plan? I don't call him "Dim Bruno" for nothing. By Geniusofdespair

Here are the changes in detail that County Commissioner Bruno Barreiro wants to make to the Manatee Plan. In short:

RESOLUTION APPROVING PROPOSED REVISIONS TO THE COUNTY MANATEE PROTECTION PLAN, INCLUDING REVISIONS TO MARINE FACILITIES SITING CRITERIA; DIRECTING THE MAYOR OR MAYOR’S DESIGNEE TO SUBMIT PROPOSED REVISIONS TO THE COUNTY MANATEE PROTECTION PLAN TO THE FLORIDA FISH AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION COMMISSION FOR REVIEW AND APPROVAL; DIRECTING THE MAYOR OR MAYOR’S DESIGNEE TO BEGIN TO PREPARE AMENDMENT TO COMPREHENSIVE DEVELOPMENT MASTER PLAN RELATED TO PROPOSED REVISIONS TO MANATEE PROTECTION PLAN 

The lossening of the Manatee Plan is being heard in committee today. Why I think it won't pass, the 5 people on the Committee: Xavier Suarez won't vote for it, Lynda Bell facing a tough election would not vote for it (suicidal to her campaign) and Barbara Jordan, by quotes in the press, won't vote for it.  I am not sure of Audrey but I assume she won't. Only Pepe Diaz is left and he also is up for reelection.

This is how dim, dim Bruno Barreiro is:

On Thursday, Mr. Barreiro is bringing several overly broad proposals written by boaters, marine-industry groups and waterfront property owners to the commission’s land-use and development committee, of which he’s not a voting member.

 He can't even write his own proposals.

'No cause determined': Why can't Florida stop shitting its own bed ... By gimleteye

Subject: Manatee, pelican deaths suggest serious problems for Indian River Lagoon

Gov. Rick Scott and the radical GOP right are literally blind to the pollution caused by their biggest campaign contributors from Big Sugar, Big Ag, and the Growth Machine. It is all about shifting the costs of cleaning up their pollution. Guess who pays?

Here's an astute observation from a reader; duh...this is exactly what happens when you inject millions of gallons of sewage into the aquifer IN the lagoon, as they are doing in Brevard County....wonder why USFWS, Florida Audubon, "Save the Manatee" and other animal rights groups aren't screaming about THIS... maybe Chuck Underwood, "a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman" should wake up and smell what ISN'T the coffee....

"The 156-mile-long lagoon, one of the richest marine environments in North America, has suffered extensive blooms of microscopic algae in recent years that have in turn triggered mass die-offs of seagrass, the submerged plants that shelter many aquatic species and are a primary source of food for manatees."

______________

Orlando Sentinel - 9:00 p.m. EDT, March 21, 2013

Manatee, pelican deaths suggest serious problems for Indian River Lagoon

Link to Kevin Spear Fox 36 interview video

The mysterious deaths of dozens of manatees and hundreds of pelicans may be an indication that the ailing Indian River Lagoon, among the state's most magnificent waterways, is headed for one of the more epic collapses of a Florida ecosystem in years.

The 156-mile-long lagoon, one of the richest marine environments in North America, has suffered extensive blooms of microscopic algae in recent years that have in turn triggered mass die-offs of seagrass, the submerged plants that shelter many aquatic species and are a primary source of food for manatees.

Scientists feared something bad would happen as a result, and beginning last summer manatees began perishing in areas with the worst seagrass losses, mainly in Brevard County, though no cause of death has been determined.

The Face of Death. By Geniusofdespair

With only an estimated 4,000 manatees in Florida waters, this red tide kill of 174 manatees is a big loss.

The Miami Herald said:

The FWC first detected the red tide in September near Tampa. It has waxed and waned since, with its highest and deadliest concentrations in Lee County waters. It remains unclear exactly what triggers the toxic blooms of phytoplankton. While some factors are natural, such as water temperatures, some scientists believe the outbreaks are worsened by agricultural runoff containing nutrients that feed algae growth.

Manatee's death captured on tape in Pompano. By Geniusofdespair

 
Don't see video? Link to video at Sun Sentinel (You need flash player, so not available on IPhone). Here is a link for IPhone of another manatee death video.
The man in the video pleads: "Don't die manatee, don't die."

Miami Dade County had one watercraft manatee death this year. We win the prize for the first watercraft mortality in the State of Florida for 2011.

Sad. Truly sad. Boaters: Slow down!

Dead Manatee Found in the Miami River. By Geniusofdespair

A dead female manatee was retrieved from the Miami River near the 17th Avenue bridge yesterday. It did not have any cuts or visible marks on the outside. I was told the carcass was starting to decompose. There could have been blunt trauma and internal injuries...it is rumored that Natacha Seijas was brought in for questioning. As we all know: She has a grudge against the species.

I guess I shouldn't have sullied the memory of the manatee with the graphic of Vile Natacha (by Harry Emilio Gottlieb with a few touches from me). The poor thing should rest in peace. At this very moment there is a Committee -- appointed by the County Commission of course -- rehashing the future of local Manatee protection. We have a good plan in place but it was seen as too weighted towards Manatee proection by SOME Commissioners.

Manatee Alert: Volunteer, call your County Commissioner by Geniusofdespair

The Chair of the BCC is going to offer a substitute ordinance on the Manatee Committee for consideration next Tuesday.

The Manatee Committee will be created immediately by the Board of County Commissioners. The Chair of the BCC will appoint the chair of the committee. Anyone who wants to be considered: You need to contact your Commissioner directly and provide them with qualifications and demographic material. Do it today, call and volunteer yourself....help the poor manatees. Hit Read More:072629 Ordinance Bruno A. Barreiro
ORDINANCE CREATING THE MIAMI-DADE COUNTY MANATEE PROTECTION PLAN REVIEW COMMITTEE; PROVIDING FOR PURPOSE, MEMBERSHIP, ORGANIZATION, JURISDICTION, FACILITIES AND STAFF SUPPORT; AUTHORIZING DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS TO DERM FROM THE BISCAYNE BAY ENVIRONMENTAL ENHANCEMENT TRUST FUND TO COMPILE DATA AND INFORMATION REQUIRED TO UPDATE MANATEE PROTECTION PLAN; PROVIDING SEVERABILITY, INCLUSION IN THE CODE, AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE [SEE ORIGINAL ITEM UNDER FILE NO. 072037] [SEE AGENDA ITEM NO. 7C]

Big Stupid Manatees. by Geniusofdespair

According to a star reporter of the St. Pete Times, Craig Pittman: Manatees may lose protection, protectors:

"The state agency set to remove manatees from the endangered list plans to slash 90 positions from the division that enforces the boating speed zones designed to protect manatees."

and:

Despite the agency's patrols, 86 manatees were killed by boats in 2006, the second highest number since the agency began keeping statistics in the 1970s. As of July 31, boats had killed 48 manatees this year.

The idea that the state agency would cut its patrols while dropping manatees from the endangered list is "pathetic," said Helen Spivey, state co-chair of the Save the Manatee Club.

Thanks Rodney Barreto, and the rest of you Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commissioners, for nothing. You know that manatee's aren't like dolphins, that they don't know enough to dive when they hear a motor. You know they just swim near the surface as if they owned the water. They get squished between ships and seawalls. They need protection because we all know, they are a trusting creature that doesn't know how to get out of the way of harm.

Eight dead manatees in Miami Dade this year already and who gives big to the Carnival Center? by Geniusofdespair

I avert my eyes when I happen on roadkill to survive in my happy world (I am not always in despair). I cannot imagine averting my eyes on a dead manatee.

Somewhere in Gimleteye's posts there is mention of charity groups not giving to environmental causes. I think that is true of rich people as well.

Rich people, I think, do not give generously to environmental causes because these causes do not increase their status in a community, like giving to a Performing Arts Center. The Carnival Center has the "Premier Level" of support where we find the names of Cejas, Braman, Arison, Miller, Codina, Trauig, Potamkin, Guerra, Podhurst, Esserman, etc. How many of these same powerful people called up Rodney Barreto and Charlie Crist to say: "Hey, Rodney/Charlie what about those 8 dead manatees in Miami?"

Read St. Pete Times article 4/15/07 Manatees' status detached from goals of recovery plan.
Reporter Craig Pittman says:

"Manatees haven't even met the flexible criteria, much less the more stringent ones. Yet last week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recommended manatees be downgraded from endangered to threatened.

Experts on the Endangered Species Act say it's not against the law for the agency to ignore the official criteria in a species' recovery plan. But it's unusual."

And, he reported:
"Last year, speeding boaters killed 86 manatees, the second highest number in a decade."

Who is protecting the Manatees? By Geniusofdespair

The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, all appointed by Jeb...they are protecting our Manatees...we think. See Manatees could lose 'endangered' status. Let's take a closer look at who the Commissioners are. This info is taken directly from their website (Except the campaign contributions). It appears that their only qualification is: They either like to fish and/or give to Republicans.

"Liking to fish" is usually not a good thing for Manatees. It is the powerboat industry that is clamoring to lift speed restrictions so people in powerboats can get to their fishing spots faster!

Chairman Rodney L. Barreto - Barreto is owner and president of Barreto Group, a real estate investment and development firm. He is also the founding partner of Floridian Partners, LLC – a strategy-management firm with offices in Miami and Tallahassee – that develops and manages effective corporate and public affairs strategies to achieve specific business results.

His biggest donation was $25,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee in 2005.

Vice Chairman David K. Meehan - Currently, Meehan is president of Bankers Insurance Group. He is vice chairman of the holding company and its subsidiary boards and sits on the holding company’s board of directors. Meehan is also vice chairman and director of First Community Bank of America, Hillsborough County. Leisure activities for Meehan include golfing, hunting, fishing, power boating, sailing, scuba diving and family activities.

He gave $500 to Katherine Harris in 2005. (hit read more, see the rest especially the greenwashing guy from St. Joe Corp.)


Commissioner H.A. "Herky" Huffman - Huffman is a semi-retired real estate investor. Huffman has been an avid hunter and fisherman (in freshwater and saltwater) his entire life. During his adult years, he has seized opportunities to hunt and fish all over North and South America.

Commissioner Sandy T. Kaupe - Kaupe has spearheaded numerous conservation and environmental organizations. She serves on the board of directors of the Surdna Foundation of New York, which funds grants for environmental, artistic, effective citizenry and community service projects. Kaupe was raised in the Clearwater vicinity. She grew up hunting, fishing, sailing and developing an abiding love for Florida's treasure trove of natural wonders.

Contributed to the Republican National Committee and Katherine Harris.

Commissioner Richard A. Corbett - Corbett is on the board of directors and board of trustees for Tampa General Hospital. He also is on the board of directors for the Florida Council on Economic Education and the Hillsborough Education Foundation. Corbett is active in various community programs and organizations, including the Tampa Chamber of Commerce, the Museum of Science and Industry and the Boy Scouts of America. Corbett advocates conserving and preserving Florida’s woodlands and its fish and wildlife resources for future generations to enjoy. He enjoys hunting, fishing, diving, skiing and golf.

Gave to Rick Santorum Campaign.

Commissioner Brian S. Yablonski - Yablonski works as the vice president of public affairs for the St. Joe Company. He also serves as an adjunct fellow with the Property and Environment Research Center, of Bozeman, Mont. The center is the nation’s oldest and largest institute working to use market principles to solve environmental problems. Yablonski is an avid outdoors enthusiast. The Tallahassee resident particularly enjoys backpacking, mountain biking, kayaking and fishing. (BTW: PERC is an unusual environmental organization: dedicated to improving environmental quality through property rights and markets. Good lord, greenwashing.)

Gave $500 to Lincoln Diaz-Balart.

Commissioner Kathy Barco - Barco is president of Barco-Duval Engineering, Inc., a heavy-construction company. The Jacksonville resident is no stranger to issues surrounding conservation and fish and wildlife management. She is active in many outdoor sporting activities and says she is excited about participating in the decision-making process.

Gave $10,000 to the Republican Party of Florida.