“T is is basically an urbanized wildlife
species that lives in our backyard, 50 feet from where we sleep,” says USGS biologist Robert Bonde, who’s studied Florida manatees for more than 35 years. “T ey’re as wild as free-ranging elephants, yet here they are.” Kings Bay is the unoffi cial manatee capital of the United States. Tourists come from far and wide to swim with, and maybe even touch, the manatees. T is practice has been going on for a long time. It began before the 1973 enactment of the Endangered Species Act.
Yet the manatee is endangered. And as such, many argue that people should stay away from manatees. Is it harmful to the manatee to interact with people? Should laws be made to prevent such interaction?
A Florida manatee rests A Florida manatee rests on the sandy bottom of a river. on the sandy bottom of a river
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