A Times Editorial

Good for the manatees

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 27, 2000

The people who think they have a divine right to race around in power boats have a habit of saying ludicrous things. Such as: 1. Hardly any manatees get killed by propellers and 2. If they do, it's their own fault.

But comments made by one Ed Day, executive director of the Florida Marine Contractors Association in Marco Island, take the crabcake. After Gov. Jeb Bush moved to put the squeeze on counties that have failed to adopt plans to safeguard manatees, Day had a hissy-fit, linking the governor with "radical environmentalists." And when the governor allowed as how the manatee is his "favorite mammal," Day retorted "Humans are my favorite mammal." Humans with Sea Rays and Chris Crafts, preferably.

This is the kind of thinking that brought about the crisis for Florida manatees in the first place. We are down to between 2,200 and 2,500 and managing to kill about one a day: The DEP reports that we've lost 175 this year alone. So all credit to the governor for telling nine coastal counties, including Sarasota and Lee, that they must comply with an order from way back in the Martinez administration to implement manatee-protection measures, including enforcement of low-speed zones and restriction of boats from areas where manatees congregate. Otherwise, they will not get permission to enlarge marinas, or add boat slips, docks and ramps.

Manatees have been on the endangered species list for more than 30 years, and it has been more than a decade since then-Gov. Bob Martinez and the Florida Cabinet told coastal counties to get serious about manatee preservation. Only Collier, Citrus, Duval and Miami-Dade have complied. This is unacceptable. All the counties with a manatee population must take the problem seriously, despite the howls of protest from marine builders, developers and outboard salesmen.

The manatee is a gentle creature, a vegetarian even, and a living link with the old, wild Florida that development is rapidly destroying. Jeb Bush is hardly aligning himself with "radical" conservationism when he says he wants to make sure the fragile species does not become extinct. Rather, he is simply doing the right thing. He might have done it sooner, but Floridians should be glad he's acting now to protect one of our unique animals.

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.