jebby’s good works

Was it worth it, Jeb, now that all your developer pals are going under and their properties are losing value faster than the Bush family name?

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) recently released the preliminary 2008 manatee mortality statistics. The total was 337…

The 2008 manatee mortality totals fell below the previous 5-year average of 357 deaths. However, this same 5-year period (2003-2007) represented the highest average number of deaths on record, and far surpassed the 5-year average for the period from 1998-2002, which was 281 deaths. Additionally, the 90 watercraft mortalities documented in 2008 well exceeded the 5-year average of 77 observed from 2003-2007… Research has indicated that many manatees may be dying at an early age, falling far short of their expected life span of 60+ years. These premature, often human-induced mortalities threaten the longevity of Florida’s manatee population, and must be minimized if we are going to successfully recover manatees.

In addition to analyzing the eight mortality categories identified by FWC, we must be concerned with the health of the aquatic habitat in which manatees live. This focus on habitat will become increasingly important in the future, as Florida’s human population continues to grow and the effects of climate change accelerate. In Florida, rising sea levels are expected to displace coastal human populations, and manatees may move into uncharted and unregulated waterways. Manatees are also negatively affected by attempts to weaken important wildlife laws, such as the federal Endangered Species Act, which recently underwent destructive modifications that must now be swiftly reversed by the incoming administration.

The bottom line on the 2008 manatee mortality is this: we have a long way to go to ensure that manatees will have a fighting chance at living out their natural lifespan without the ever-present threat of human indifference.

(I couldn’t stand to end on such a sad note.)

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