This past Wednesday, seemingly by an act of God, the Florida State Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission decided NOT to downlist the endangered manatee to threatened status. For once, it appears as though the voice of reason - and thousands of people - has won over the judgment of the powers-that-be in terms of manatee protection. Although the population numbers are up for manatees, even the governor of Florida felt that downlisting the manatee would be moving too quickly in a direction that couldn't do anything but harm the gentle creature. Their only natural predator is man. Yes, that's it folks, as usual. We can't respect the world we live in, the world we share with other creatures. Who cares if there are endangered species in the water, let's raise the boat speed limits just for pure, selfish fun. And if an innocent creature gets maimed or killed in the process? Well, they were in our way! The human race is pretty pathetic sometimes, especially with all of the situations I've seen with abuse of manatees and their habitat. So here's a case where the good guys really fought hard for the underdog, in this case the sea cow, and came out on top -- at least for the time being. This is only a postponement of the actual ruling on the downlisting, but the Commission has decided that they need to take time out to look at how they are classifying ALL endangered species in the state. Way to go! I'm keeping my toenailed-manatee flippers crossed, but not holding my breath...
~Citizen file photo obtained from KeysNews.com
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