Dance of the Reptiles by Carl Hiaasen Read Free Book Online Page A

oversee the future of America’s 26 imperiled species of salmon?
    Here in Florida, we have no salmon, but we do have a variety of wildlife at risk of being wiped off the planet, including the panther, the Key deer, the Miami blue butterfly, and the homely short-nosed sturgeon.
    In all, federal and state officials have classified at least 57 Florida species as either endangered or threatened. None stirs more emotion than the ponderous manatee, which is at the center of a battle pitting environmentalists against the recreational marine industry and waterfront developers.
    The Legislature’s sympathies were never in doubt. Lastmonth it passed a bill that would severely limit the ability of state wildlife authorities to set boating speed zones or restrict dock building in areas where manatees congregate.
    The measure, now on Gov. Jeb Bush’s desk, is endorsed by some of the same interest groups that have been lobbying to get manatees scratched off the endangered list altogether. Could their campaign be given new life by the administration’s novel hatchery concept?
    Obviously, farming manatees would pose some unique challenges. For starters, sea cows are considerably larger than salmon—an adult specimen weighs anywhere from 800 to 1,200 pounds. Even newborn manatees are chubby, averaging more than 60 pounds. Consequently, the holding tanks will have to be very spacious.
    Then there’s the fertility issue. A female salmon lays 2,000 to 10,000 eggs every spawning season, but the average female manatee gives birth to only a single calf every two to five years. So the process of accumulating baby manatees will take a very long time.
    And while mother salmon typically lay their eggs and take off, mother manatees insist on sticking around for a couple of years to nurse and raise the calves. This could get expensive, because manatees eat the equivalent of 10 to 15 percent of their own body weight every day.
    So the grocery bill for fresh greens will be very high.
    Finally, there’s the problem of adaptability. When you put baby salmon into a river, they almost always swim away—even the dumbest, most inbred hatchery fish. Manatees are more likely to be confused by their sudden freedom, especially after being fed and pampered for so long. The spectacle of hundreds of young sea cows moping around a river, waiting for handouts, could be a definite problem, PR-wise.
    None of these hurdles is insurmountable, though. Just asthe White House relied on a timber advocate for advice on salmon, perhaps it could turn to the makers of Jet Skis for guidance on manatee management.
    If such a bold approach were successful, we might see a day when a hatchery-style census is applied to Florida’s remaining panthers and Key deer, perhaps counting zoo specimens as part of the natural population.
    Anything is possible when we’ve got a president so clearly committed to pruning the nation’s roster of endangered species down to a manageable two or three critters.
    May 29, 2005
    Vigilance Falls Woefully Short
    If Miami-Dade commissioners sell out to developers and vote to move westward the county’s Urban Development Boundary, thousands of acres of wetlands will be open to destruction.
    The decision would effectively sabotage the $8 billion Everglades restoration plan and would further imperil South Florida’s future water supply.
    In theory, wetlands are supposed to be protected under the Clean Water Act by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Since the federal government is an equal partner with Florida in the much-hyped Everglades project, you might reasonably assume that the Corps would make at least a token effort at vigilance.
    But you’d be wrong.
    If the UDB gets moved, all remaining wetlands along the rim of the Everglades are in danger. Judging by its past actions, the Corps will bow to the developers as meekly as the politicians do.
    A series of superb articles in
The St. Petersburg Times
hasdocumented that at least 84,000 acres of