Members of a Florida family should not have petted, lifted or sat on a manatee calf, but the biggest mistake was made by the group's father. Fort Pierce native Ryan William Waterman, 21, incriminated himself and his two kids when he posted images of the violation on Facebook.
The Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act makes it illegal to injure, harm, harass, capture or attempt to capture a manatee in the state, so a warrant was issued for Waterman's arrest by the State Attorney's Office.
Waterman could face up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) spokeswoman Katie Purcell told the Palm Beach Post on Monday, Feb. 18.
"This was a young manatee which was likely still dependent on its mother for food and protection," says Dr. Thomas Reinert, a manatee biologist for the FWC. "Separating the two could have severe consequences for the calf."
Pointing out the "the calf also appeared to be experiencing manatee cold-stress syndrome, a condition that can lead to death in extreme cases," Reinert notes that "taking the calf out of the water may have worsened its situation."
According to numbers revealed by the FWC, almost 100 manatees already were found dead in the first two months of 2013:
- 11 died of human-related causes
- 15 of cold stress
- 37 of natural causes
- 25 deaths were undetermined.
For such reasons, the State of Florida decreed in 1967 that its manatees are an endangered species and ever since, has enforced rigid protection laws for the cuddly sea mammals.
In October 2012, the Tampa Bay Times reported that a manatee violation occurred when a Florida woman, Ana Gloria Garcia Gutierrez, 52, phoned Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri to confess she had been "molesting" manatees. Guiterrez claimed she had been touching and handling the manatees but she hadn't known this was a crime.
"Go ride a Jet Ski," responded Gualtieri. "Don't use animals."
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