Apply Science To The Manatee Issue in The State of Florida

Petitioned to Governor Jeb Bush beginning July 2002

Note: While this petition is not restricted to Florida residents only, it is expected that Florida resident's signatures will have the most impact. We are permitting out-state signatures since there are many people who feel strongly about this issue and spend significant vacation time and money in the State of Florida.

We the undersigned request that you, as our Governor of the State of Florida, make a formal request to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to investigate the condition, plight, endangered status, and the rules and regulations imposed by non-elected Bureaucrats to protect the future of manatees in the State of Florida.

We further request that the NAS investigate the negative impact caused by record state manatee populations on the environment and other marine life forms living in the same habitat. We ask that seagrasses and other marine vegetation be part of this study because water based plant life has been disappearing at alarming rates in areas where manatees live year round. This could affect all life forms and might be a contributing factor regarding the decline in populations of many species of fish in south Florida waters.

We further request that the NAS investigate the effect human intervention has had on the normal migratory instincts of manatees. We ask the NAS to determine if warm water discharge from power plants and shallow water canals interfere with migratory instincts, and whether they should be gated or otherwise modified in some manner to stop manatees from using them year round.

Therefore, we ask you, as Governor, to stop the environmental insanity surrounding manatees and save our boating rights.

Please accept our petition with all due respect.

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people have viewed this petition since July 7th, 2002