Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Manatee coverage reaches far and wide

By LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published March 19, 2007

Thank you for awareness-raising articles on manatees. Please be aware that your coverage is far wider than Florida. Your ideas for trying to deal with the relationship between manatees and humans are appreciated.

Ken Hausner, Balaklava, South Australia

- - -

Thank you so much for publishing the videos regarding the torment of manatees. Please continue to catch these ignorant jerks who will not let these beautiful creatures alone.

Janis Rittenhouse, Egg Harbor, N.J.

- - -

I am writing to urge you to continue to report on issues like manatee harassment and preservation of habitat. Manatees are an endangered species and need protection. Your reporting gives voice to these defenseless creatures.

With our new understanding of global warming, nature needs lots of friends like the Times to save this beautiful planet.

Giulietta Karras, Chicago

- - -

I recently learned of the excellent articles written over the past year by staff writer Barbara Behrendt regarding manatee harassment by people in the Crystal River area. Please keep up the excellent work covering this matter. You are providing a valuable service in educating people about the consequences of their actions.

Years ago, I helped when the Nature Conservancy was gathering funds to purchase the manatee sanctuary areas in Crystal River, so this topic is very dear to me. After the sanctuaries were established, my husband and I visited the area often and saw people respecting the area and saw the area patrolled by authorities. It would have been difficult to get away with the activities that are occurring today.

Something has drastically changed, and your newspaper's work in covering these abuses is much needed. Please keep it up.

Marla Turek, Naperville, Ill.

- - -

My husband and I very much appreciate that you do such a superb job reporting on manatee issues. Please continue.

Corinne Christopher, Irving, Texas

- - -

Thank you for your coverage of manatee issues. It is very important that the public is aware of the exploitation of manatees of Citrus County.

Please continue to be the ambassador of the manatee by reporting on these topics. I am very grateful.

Susan Fleming, Albion, N.Y.

- - -

I would like to thank you for continuing to report stories about the manatees in the Blue Waters area of the Homosassa River.

Citrus County, where both the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge and Blue Waters area are, is the only place in Florida where swimming with manatees is allowed.

People can inadvertently separate a mother and calf by trying to touch manatees, and a calf that is separated from his or her mother could ultimately die without her.

Your coverage of this topic has been vital to manatee survival. I have written a letter asking that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Florida Wildlife Commission increase protections for manatees.

If your newspaper closes its Citrus County bureaus, a critical form of public education about this topic will be lost. We cannot be a true democracy unless the public is informed and, thereby, involved.

Please keep this vibrant bureau alive.

Katherine Iosif, San Francisco

- - -

I just wanted to drop a note to say keep up the good work in reporting on manatees in the Crystal River area.

It has come to my attention, even from this far away, that you are keeping up with them and the news that surrounds them. That is very needed, because if it were not for you, perhaps, we would never hear about what goes on with them, good or bad.

I just wanted to say thank you and please, keep it up.

Shawna R. Blaker, Washington, Penn.

- - -

I was speechless and horrified to see the video you posted on manatee abuse in the Homosassa River. We must continue to spread the word about how much this hurts these gentle creatures.

Manatees, with no natural enemies except human beings, cannot fight for their rights, or make people leave them alone. People take the animals' silence for friendliness or playfulness, which it is not. Forcing the babies to expend their energy swimming from inexperienced snorkelers and away from their mothers is just cruel, as is kicking up debris from the river floor in their faces while they sleep, or trying to ride them around.

If they become agitated enough, the experienced divers will never be able to see their beauty because they'll die or become too scared to let people near them.

You must continue to bring issues like this to everyone's attention and expose the plight of the manatee to everyone.

Mary Vican, Cranston, Rhode Island

- - -

I very much appreciate the superb job you have done in reporting on the harassment and other important manatee issues. After you close your Citrus County bureau I am concerned that manatee stories won't get the coverage they need.

Diane M. Kastel, Wheaton, Ill.

- - -

Thank you for your article Manatee abuse caught on tape (Feb. 11). I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate the superb job you have done in reporting on this and other important manatee issues.

Please keep the paper's Citrus County bureau, because I am concerned that manatee stories won't get the coverage they need if there isn't someone responsible enough to do so.

Diane Brannan, Albuquerque, N.M.

- - -

I want to let you know how much I appreciate articles of this nature. My daughter, nephew and I have gone swimming with the manatees and it is a truly rewarding experience. I have also adopted a manatee for my daughter and we have seen her at Homosassa Springs state park.

These are amazing, gentle creatures that need to be protected. Again, I appreciate you writing articles that allow the public to know what is going on. Keep up the good work.

Rayetta Schetrompf, Williamsport, Maryland

- - -

My nephew e-mailed information to me concerning the manatees at Crystal River and this abuse to support the almighty tourist trade. I live near this area and have watched these gentle giants swim in the river. I have observed them from the land, which I feel is what everyone should be doing.

It sickens me to see the abuse these poor creatures are put through. Thank you for reporting this abuse and making the community more aware of what is happening in Citrus County.

More money must be allocated to the wildlife refuges to control this situation. Our lawmakers need to take a stand to stop this abuse.

Linda Anderson, Ocala

- - -

Thank you for your superb reporting on manatee harassment in Citrus County and other manatee issues. Please keep up the good work!

Sara Pic-Harrison, Roslindale, Mass.

- - -

Thank you for your article about the harassment of manatees. I do not live in Florida, but I visit almost every year mainly to see the manatees.

It is not necessary to touch or chase manatees to appreciate them. Please continue your support of these gentle giants.

Renda Shields, Chesapeake, Vir.

- - -

Thank you for publishing the article on the abuse that manatees face every day. Without papers like the Citrus Times, the public might be unaware of the manatees' plight. Keep up the good work!

Amanda Briggs, York, Penn.

- - -

Thank you so much for your superb coverage of harassment of manatees at Crystal River, and keep up the great work!

Yes, even up here in New York, we are watching!

Michael Shore, Oceanside, N.Y.

- - -

I have viewed your video links. Good grief! What possesses people to do such things? Do they think a manatee will take off like a dolphin if they ride them?

Living in the United Kingdom I have not visited for a couple of years, but belong to the Save the Manatee Club and remember the times spent at Blue Springs and down by the Fort Myers power station outlet. No one troubled them and all were in awe when they sighted one. We were lucky to see a mother and calf. What would happen if those "lovely" people came across that pair? I dread to think.

All over there is too much of a bullish attitude to anything that is precious and rare; we have to touch and eventually ruin it all. Is it down to education?

Whatever you can do to stop the harassment of those poor defenseless and trustingly gentle creatures, then do it; they may not be with us long with that treatment.

Karen Sawyer, Hasocks, United Kingdom

- - -

I just wanted to thank you for the articles you have published (and hopefully will continue to publish) regarding the plight of the manatee. I don't actually get your newspaper (I live in Missouri), but I have read some of your articles through my connections with Save the Manatee.

My daughter and I visited Homosassa several years ago during a trip I had taken her on to celebrate her graduation from high school. We both fell in love with the area and especially the manatees. I have been an adoptive mother of one of Homosassa's manatees ever since (Amanda).

They are a part of Florida's history, and are such peaceful, beautiful, wonderful creatures. Yet, because of stupid, careless, and sometimes purposefully harmful acts by a few ignorant people, the manatee will have a hard time staying around for future generations to appreciate.

Staff writer Barbara Behrendt informs her readers about exactly what is happening with the manatees, their legal battles, and suggests what people can do to help these otherwise helpless animals. I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate your newspaper. Job well done!

Nancy Jacobe-Bradshaw, Farmington, Missouri

[Last modified March 19, 2007, 06:36:07]