When Quint White came to Jacksonville University to teach marine biology nearly three decades ago, he was certain he manatees were on their way to extinction. Now, thanks to federal protection, the population is up by 500%. This has prompted the feds to propose removing manatees from the Endangered list, a move White calls “highly justified.”
“Manatees are no longer in danger of extinction,” said Mike Oetker, deputy regional director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s southeast office. The reclassification would change the status from Endangered to Threatened.
The agency announced the proposal at a press conference in Miami on Thursday.
“Today’s announcement demonstrates the Endangered Species Act can and does work,” Oetker said.
“This is a great achievement,” said Andrew Hertz, president of the Miami Seaquarium, which rescued the first orphaned manatee in 1955 and continues to play a significant role in manatee rehabilitation. “But they still need a lot of care.”
There were 1,267 manatees when the first aerial count took place in 1991. Last year’s count showed a minimum of 6,300 in Florida, Oetker said. There are more than 500 in Puerto Rico, and 13,000 throughout Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.
Oetker said the population has rebounded for the following reasons:
- The creation of more than 50 manatee protection areas
- Retrofitted water control structures, like dams, to reduce entrapment
- Reduction of warm water discharge by utility companies
- Help from municipalities in enforcing protections
- Improved fishing gear resulting in less entanglements
- Citizen volunteers helping to rescue sick/injured manatees
In North Florida, where manatees can be found in both the St. Johns River and the Intercoastal Waterway, White has seen “a steady increase in population” due to more community awareness and boater education, he said in an email.
But some are concerned the change will reduce protection for manatees, in part because the review was spurred by a property rights/limited government group. The Pacific Legal Foundation filed a petition and a lawsuit in recent years to force the review.
Last fall’s statewide bear hunt also caused critics to question whether the state protects the interests of wildlife. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission said the hunt was to control the bear population, but since bears were just delisted two years ago, opponents have questioned the agency’s rationale.
“And then our FWC will approve a manatee hunt in order to protect them and conserve our wildlife,” joked Julie Watkins in a Facebook post, referring to the bear hunt. Watkins, a former North Florida television meteorologist, is an animal rights advocate who runs a non-profit called The Girls Gone Green.
But for now, the public will not see any changes from the reclassification, said the agency. Speed zones and protection areas will remain in place at least until manatees are completely delisted.
“We need to maintain current regulations because they have worked,” White said. He said the population increase makes it hard to justify calling manatees Endangered, but they can always be relisted as such if conditions change.
A 90-day public comment period opened Friday so the public can submit additional scientific information. The agency will then spend the remainder of the year assessing any new information, and take action about a year from now.
