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Florida Manatee Orgy Near Tampa Bay Highway Causes World's Most Awkward Traffic Jam
The Drive ^ | 5/13/2019 | JAMES GILBOY

Posted on 05/15/2019 1:22:12 PM PDT by Gamecock

An unusual congregation of mating manatees reportedly caused a traffic jam in Tampa Bay, Florida last Friday.

Approximately a dozen of the creatures were spotted by commuters offshore of Courtney Campbell Causeway, reports Fox 13. The news channel says it received several calls from drivers commuting via the road—many of whom pulled over to watch the spectacle—reporting a possible whale in distress. On arrival, a news helicopter discovered the herd of manatees engaging in a rarely seen reproduction practice known as a "mating ball."

This event, which ABC Action News reports is sighted an average of once every three to five years, is a result of a highly competitive manatee mating ritual, wherein an average of seven males reportedly compete for the attention of a single female. This sometimes results in a group of aggressive males corralling a small number of females into shallow waters, before attempting to mate with them.

Though distasteful, this practice may prevent manatees from slipping back toward extinction, as the size of their wild population is limited. Manatees were classified as endangered for more than 40 years, until their reclassification in 2016 to the less-severe status of "threatened," implying population numbers greater than those of endangered species.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says that manatee mating season runs from March through November, meaning more traffic slowdowns could occur in the rare event that another manatee mating ball appears off the coast of Tampa Bay.


TOPICS: Local News
KEYWORDS: commentbait; floridaman; floridamanatee
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To: Gamecock

This entire article is hetero normative and binary.

What about the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered manatees? What about their rights, what about their rituals?


21 posted on 05/15/2019 1:35:56 PM PDT by Dilbert San Diego
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To: Gamecock

22 posted on 05/15/2019 1:36:07 PM PDT by abb ("News reporting is too important to be left to the journalists." Walter Abbott (1950 -))
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To: Gamecock

Mating ball? Sounds like a cluster...


23 posted on 05/15/2019 1:36:58 PM PDT by Menehune56 ("Let them hate so long as they fear" (Oderint Dum Metuant), Lucius Accius (170 BC - 86 BC))
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To: Gamecock

Manatee Orgy?

Sounds like the title of a Jimmy Buffett album.


24 posted on 05/15/2019 1:37:44 PM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: Menehune56

Shut your Mouth!


25 posted on 05/15/2019 1:38:22 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Dilbert San Diego

You mean, if we could turn the manatees gay, that might not help their climb from the endangered species list?


26 posted on 05/15/2019 1:39:17 PM PDT by Rastus
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To: SES1066
I wonder if he wrote about this kind of thing in his book?


27 posted on 05/15/2019 1:40:01 PM PDT by abb ("News reporting is too important to be left to the journalists." Walter Abbott (1950 -))
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Comment #28 Removed by Moderator

To: Gamecock

A result of climate change in three, two, ine.......


29 posted on 05/15/2019 1:42:14 PM PDT by blackdog
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To: Buckeye McFrog

Someone flushed their meth and Viagra down the commode.


30 posted on 05/15/2019 1:43:51 PM PDT by blackdog
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To: malach

I bet he has nightmares when two cats are going at it outside his window.


31 posted on 05/15/2019 1:47:33 PM PDT by Lurkina.n.Learnin (If you want a definition of "bullying" just watch the Democrats in the Senate)
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To: Gamecock

This is why we can’t have nice things...
P


32 posted on 05/15/2019 1:51:51 PM PDT by rrrod (just an old guy with a gun in his pocket)
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To: M. Thatcher

Clone em it’ll save time


33 posted on 05/15/2019 1:53:43 PM PDT by Phil DiBasquette
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To: Gamecock; SaveFerris; PROCON; sparklite2

“Is anybody here a marine...um, uh..never mind.”


34 posted on 05/15/2019 1:53:45 PM PDT by Larry Lucido
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To: Gamecock; SaveFerris; FredZarguna; PROCON; Army Air Corps; KC_Lion; Rebelbase; dfwgator; mylife; ...

“Is anybody here a marine comedian?”


35 posted on 05/15/2019 1:55:57 PM PDT by Larry Lucido
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To: Gamecock
And... distasteful? Really?

I'm sure that those gal manatees like a mana-tease. And they look tasty- delicious to each other.

Proof God has a hugh-manatee sense of humor.

36 posted on 05/15/2019 1:56:43 PM PDT by Mrs. Don-o ( Mannlich + Herrlich + Stark)
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To: dfwgator

compete for the attention of a single female.


“Ah, sweet mystery of life at last I’ve found you.”


37 posted on 05/15/2019 1:59:25 PM PDT by sparklite2 (Don't mind me. I'm just a contrarian.)
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Comment #38 Removed by Moderator

To: Gamecock

What a bunch of animals.


39 posted on 05/15/2019 2:00:17 PM PDT by Zhang Fei (My dad had a Delta 88. That was a car. It was like driving your living room.)
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To: central_va

I dropped my computer mouse on that one.. .unfortunately it landed in the cat’s food.


40 posted on 05/15/2019 2:00:31 PM PDT by Maudeen (Remember . . . Jesus is already in all of your tomorrows.)
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