T After 25 Years, Club's Plate Still Full - Save the Manatee Club

After 25 Years, Club’s Plate Still Full
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still have many more critical battles
to win, and the Club’s plate continues
to be full.
On behalf of our Board of
Directors and our hard-working
hough the importance
of saving species seems
lost on this generation
of conservative lawmakers,
it was deeply appreciated
32 years ago when Congress overwhelmingly
passed the Endangered
Species Act.
They understood that man’s very
existence depends on the planet’s
biodiversity. The act protects that
diversity by authorizing conservation
measures for listed species, including
preserving critical habitat on
public and private property. Florida
has a similar list of plants and animals
that warrant state protections.
and dedicated staff, my heartfelt
thanks for your support – and even
more than that – thanks so much
for caring!
Judith Vallee has been Save the
Building Upon Success
An editorial excerpted with permission from the Daytona Beach News-Journal
T
The act’s successes are evident –
more than 7,600 pairs of bald eagles
in the lower 48 states today compared
to 417 pairs when it was
enacted; whooping cranes thriving
in the Midwest, condors soaring
over California, sea turtles returning
to nest on Florida beaches. But
that hasn’t stopped well-organized
attempts to cripple the federal act
or the state protections, attempts
that are gaining momentum with
an unsuspecting public’s support.
Neither Congress nor the state
of Florida should be watering down
their de-listing criteria. The state
has already done that and in June
Manatee Club’s executive director
since 1985. Later this year, she will
step down as executive director in
order to concentrate on raising muchneeded
funds for Club programs.
will use the weaker criteria to decide
whether to remove manatees from
its endangered list. That would
likely lead to a similar de-listing
by the federal government. The
stability of the sea cow population
is in serious doubt.
Changing the rules to make
a species look more sustainable
than it is defeats the intent of
Congress in 1973.
It is obvious that 2006 will
be a critical year for protecting
endangered and threatened species.
At the moment, it’s not looking
good for the plants or the critters.
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On The Move In Tampa Bay
By Suzanne Tarr, Volunteer
Winter has officially arrived, if for
just a moment, in southwest Florida.
After a balmy December, temperatures
finally took a dip in January.
In Tampa Bay, manatee numbers
typically increase during the early
winter months, as they move away
from summer haunts and migrate
closer to warm water refuges.
Vector is usually one of the first
to drop in at a warm water site, so
I was not surprised to hear that he
was the first adoptee to be spotted
this season. In early November,
Vector visited the Culbreath Key
area known for its lush sea grass
beds that manatees feed on year
round. The week of Thanksgiving,
he was observed on the other side
of the Bay’s bridge at the Florida
Progress Bartow power plant in
St. Petersburg, along with another
adoptee, Flicker.
Flicker spent several days at this
protected federal sanctuary in late
November and early December.
Demonstrating her extensive use
of the Bay, before visiting Bartow,
Flicker was spotted in a non-winter
“hot spot,” Coffeepot Bayou, and
after hanging out at Bartow, she
was photographed across the Bay
at Tampa Bay’s largest aggregation
site, TECO’s Big Bend power plant.
Elsie also checked in at TECO
the second week of December. I
expect Vector to show up at TECO
soon enough, as he has been photographed
there annually for over
a decade.
Not to be forgotten and farther
to the south, Ginger was spotted
with a calf in September in the Marco
Island area. This winter, she has
been photographed at Lee County
Manatee Park, a warm water site
fed by Florida Power & Light
Company’s power plant warm
water discharge in Fort Myers.
While I’m glad that most of our
adoptees (Jemp is the lone hold out)
are accounted for, I must end on a
cautionary note. This winter has
been unseasonably warm so far,
meaning that manatees usually at
the warm water aggregation sites,
or very close to them, may be more
dispersed and in areas that boaters
may not expect to see them this time
of year. While boating, please be
vigilant and aware because manatees
are sharing the waterways with
you! For tips on how to be a safer
boater in manatee habitat and other
tips on conservation stewardship,
visit our website at: www.savethe
manatee.org/bttips.htm
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