Ocean Sentry
The endangered Florida manatee is being illegally besieged by hordes of tourists who are allowed to swim with the animal, according to a formal petition for rulemaking filed today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) which issues permits sanctioning the practice. PEER is demanding that the federal agency stop giving out commercial swim-with permits, adopt rules that forbid swimming with the manatees and safeguard key manatee breeding and resting areas.
Every year an estimated 100,000 tourists participate in manatee “swim-with” programs that promote direct encounters in manatee lagoons. Studies indicate that approximately half of these human-manatee interactions constitute harassment, with tourists routinely observed poking, chasing, standing on or kicking manatees, as well as separating mothers from calves.
Citing the anti-harassment mandates of laws such as the Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act, PEER is formally petitioning FWS to halt manatee swim-with programs.
If FWS does not act on the PEER petition within a reasonable time it will be subject to a lawsuit for failure to act. In addition, the agency may be liable to suit for failure to effectively enforce manatee protection laws.
(From commondreams.org, Florida)
