1903Still
intrigued by these curious animals, many places attempted to
maintain manatees in artificial environments. A male manatee was
shipped to the New York Zoological Society in 1903 and displayed for
five months at the New York Aquarium although its survival is
unknown.
1907
– Florida State law (Ch. 370.12) – imposed a fine of $500 and/or six
months’ imprisonment for killing or molesting a manatee.
1911
– A manatee captured in Texas was shipped to New Orleans for
exhibition purposes for approximately 6 months. No information is
known about its survival.
1919
– A fisherman netted a manatee near Wilmington, North Carolina, and
displayed it in a lakeside enclosure before it died during a
November cold spell.
1926
– Florida Power & Light – Fort Lauderdale power plant begins
operation.
1939
– New York Aquarium - Early attempts at maintaining Amazonian
manatees in captivity led to the discovery of the temperature range
that these manatees preferred -- 78 degrees.
1941
– Manatee skull found in Louisiana and several specimens reported in
Texas (information is not available about whether the specimens were
from Mexican or Florida stock).
1946
– Florida Power & Light – Riviera power plant begins operation.
1948
– “Snooty” the longest surviving captive-born manatee conceived in
the wild was born in Miami. In 1949, Snooty was moved to the South
Florida Museum in Bradenton, Florida, and became the mascot of
Manatee County. Snooty continues to reside at the museum (still
alive in 2007).
Late 1940s and early 1950s
– Joseph Curtis Moore started the first scar catalog of manatees in
the Miami River at the old power plant.
1953
– Amended 1907 statute to allow capture of manatees for
research/education purposes.
1957
– Miami Seaquarium captures its first female manatee (Cleopatra) for
display—permit obtained from the Florida State Board of
Conservation. Cleo gave birth to a female calf in captivity and
adopted an orphaned male. All three later died because of DDT and
Chlordane poisoning from mosquito control at the park. The park
later obtained Romeo and Juliet for display. (As of 2007, Romeo and
Juliet still reside at the park).
1958
– Florida Power & Light – Fort Myers power plant begins operation.
1960
- Florida Power & Light – Port Everglades power plant begins
operation. The number of boats registered in Florida – 100,000.
1964
– The Flood Control governing board awarded a three-year contract to
Florida Atlantic University (FAU) in Boca Raton, (Palm Beach County)
Florida, to study using the manatee to suppress aquatic and bank
weed growth in essential inland waterways. Miami Seaquarium was
contracted to move five test manatees to a selected site. FAU
monitored the animals until vandals shot and killed the sole male
manatee and cold stress claimed the remaining females in 1965 and
1966. The study revealed that manatees had the unique potential
to be effective economical control agents of obnoxious aquatic weeds
IF the manatees were abundant enough and IF they were maintained in
an appropriately controlled environment—although in reality such use
is not feasible. (The press releases
about this research program during the ‘60s probably contributed to
the current myth that people have today which leads them to believe
that manatees were brought to Florida to control weeds in the
waterways. Manatees were not imported to Florida for this
study—they are a native species.)
Manatee using prehensile lips to grasp food.
