Free Republic

EAST DENNIS -- A wayward manatee found its way to Sesuit Harbor this afternoon, the same location where nearly one year ago another manatee thrilled hundreds of onlookers for two weeks.

SARASOTA, FL - A Suncoast man says he has a potato that's shaped like a manatee. Sarasota resident Len Higley tells ABC 7 that he picked the tuber from a bin of loose potatoes at the Publix on Fruitville Road near Honore Avenue. He says that as he sorted through them, that his eyes went right to the potato and immediately thought it looked like one of the endangered vegetarian mammals. Higley purchased the potato a brought it home, but says he's not going to eat it. Putting it on Ebay has crossed his mind, but not sure what he's...

Along the Emerald Coast, it's fairly common to see dolphins, manta rays, sea turtles and other marine animals. But manatees cause more of a stir. That's why Niceville veterinarian Jenny Fortune and her husband were slow to identify what was swimming between them in hip-deep water near Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou State Park recently. "I'm looking at it, going ‘Oh my God, what is it?' " Fortune said. "These things are giant. Your brain just doesn't compute." She said they first thought it might be a large manta ray. They quickly realized that the creature wasn't flat, but very, very...

NEW YORK—While sailing the ocean near Haiti, Christopher Columbus in 1493 reported seeing three mermaids from a distance. The Genoese explorer was not impressed. Up close, the sea maidens were “not as pretty as they are depicted,” he wrote in his journal, “for somehow in the face they look like men.” Many scientists now think that what Columbus probably saw was a manatee, an aquatic mammal that resembles a flippered hippo. In a new exhibition opening at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) here this weekend, viewers can digitally superimpose the picture of a mermaid atop that of a...

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Monday it is considering reclassifying the manatee as threatened instead of endangered, a move that would indicate the animal has rebounded from the brink of extinction. The manatee would still remain protected under the federal Endangered Species Act, making it illegal to harass, poach or kill the animals. A five-year Fish and Wildlife review of manatees is set to be released later this week, agency spokesman Chuck Underwood said. He would not say whether it will recommend the changed status because it is not yet complete. "Even if we propose the reclassification, that...

CORPUS CHRISTI — Officials were trying to nurse a manatee back to health in an aquarium today, the day after using a net and crane to hoist it from warm waters near a Citgo refinery. It was the first time one of the endangered animals was rescued by wildlife officials off the Texas coast, far from the warm waters they usually frequent off Florida and Mexico. "I would say it was in probably critical condition," said Allan Strand, field supervisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in South Texas. "It was not difficult to rescue. It was hugging the...

A manatee that traveled 720 miles up the Mississippi River to Memphis in October and eluded his would-be rescuers was found dead today on the banks of a lake. Police said the manatee was discovered around 1:30 p.m. at Lake McKellar, a slackwater lake off the Mississippi River south of Memphis. The manatee was first spotted in October in the Wolf River harbor just north of the densely populated downtown area. But the animal disappeared a few days later and wasn't seen again until its body was found today. Sea World officials say they have no plans to return to...

Back in 1902, a scientist examining the smooth, grapefruit-size brain of a manatee remarked that the organ's unwrinkled surface resembled that of the brain of an idiot. Ever since then, manatees have generally been considered incapable of doing anything more complicated than chewing sea grass. But Hugh, a manatee in a tank at a Florida marine laboratory, doesn't seem like a dimwit. When a buzzer sounds, the speed bump-shaped mammal slowly flips his 1,300 pounds and aims a whiskered snout toward one of eight loudspeakers lowered into the water. Nosing the correct speaker earns him treats. Hugh is no manatee...

Excerpt - MEMPHIS, Tenn. Memphis authorities are trying to figure out how a manatee believed to be from Florida got so far up the Mississippi River. The eight- to ten-foot manatee was spotted today splashing and surfacing in a tributary of the Mississippi called Wolf River, near downtown Memphis. ~ snip ~

In the heat of summer, all sorts of tourists head north to cooler climes. This year, a manatee has joined the crowd, cruising past the nightclubs of Manhattan and continuing north.The massive animal has been spotted in the Hudson River at least three times in the last week — first off the Chelsea and Harlem sections of Manhattan, then to the north in Sleepy Hollow in Westchester County."It was gigantic," said Randy Shull, who said he spotted the unusual visitor Sunday afternoon while boating at Kingsland Point Park in Sleepy Hollow. "When we saw it surface, its back was just...

ST. LOUIS—Parasites from cat feces are causing deadly brain damage in California sea otters. A combination of toxic chemicals and herpes virus is killing off California sea lions. And toxic algae blooms are contributing to record manatee deaths in Florida. All of these animals live near coastlines, spending a majority of their lives in the same waters people swim and surf in. Their daily cuisines consist of the same foods we serve up in clam shacks and fine seafood restaurants. The difference between humans and these animals, says NOAA spokesperson Paul Sandifer, is that the animals deal with the ocean...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- The fury of four hurricanes in Florida may have spared the state's endangered manatee population from further decline. The annual report by the state Fish and Wildlife Research Institute shows deaths statewide fell to 276 in 2004 from 370 recorded in 2003. "One theory is the four hurricanes that affected the state this year means we had less boating activity," said Tom Pitchford, a biologist with the research institute. "Fewer boats on the water means fewer manatees struck." The total manatee death rate spiked in 2003 because of an aquatic phenomenon called a red tide event....

Some letters came with pictures, a photograph of a Florida waterway or a child's drawing of an endangered manatee. Some were form letters. Some were hand-written. Some used scientific evidence. Some detailed personal experiences. And to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, they all must read like a blur. The federal agency received nearly 5,700 public comments from almost every state in the union and other countries to help it decide how to protect the manatee along Florida's shores. As part of a settlement with a consortium of environmental groups, Fish and Wildlife is considering creating three protection zones, areas...

MANATEE COUNTY -- Before they begin every meeting, the five members of the School Board stand -- asking those in the audience to join them -- bow their heads and recite the Lord's Prayer. While factions may form during their meetings, the board is unanimous in its belief that prayer -- the one from the New Testament in particular -- is the way to begin their meetings. Others don't agree. Steven Rosenauer of Bradenton said he came to a School Board meeting this month full of pride for his son who was to be recognized as part of Haile Middle...

Feds Call Manatee Settlement Illegal WASHINGTON, DC, July 26, 2002 (ENS) - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) argued in court this week that a settlement reached between the agency and a coalition of environmental groups over endangered manatees last year was illegal. In January 2001, conservation groups including the Save the Manatee Club, Defenders of Wildlife, The Humane Society of the United States, and the Sierra Club, won a landmark settlement agreement compelling the USFWS to institute measures to protect manatees. This week, the USFWS called the settlement illegal, saying it "unlawfully" constrains the discretion of the...

Feds Call Manatee Settlement Illegal WASHINGTON, DC, July 26, 2002 (ENS) - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) argued in court this week that a settlement reached between the agency and a coalition of environmental groups over endangered manatees last year was illegal. In January 2001, conservation groups including the Save the Manatee Club, Defenders of Wildlife, The Humane Society of the United States, and the Sierra Club, won a landmark settlement agreement compelling the USFWS to institute measures to protect manatees. This week, the USFWS called the settlement illegal, saying it "unlawfully" constrains the discretion of the...