Sirenews
(ISSN 1017-3439) appears twice a year
in
April and October and is edited by Daryl P. Domning,
Department
of Anatomy, Howard University, Washington, D.C. 20059 USA
(fax:
202-265-7055). It is supported by the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission.
NUMBER
20 OCTOBER 1993
IN THIS ISSUE: -
NEW JOURNAL ON MANATEES PUBLISHED IN BRAZIL (p. 5)
-
DUGONGS IN OMAN? (p. 7)
-
REPORT AND ABSTRACTS OF SYDNEY
WORKSHOP (pp. 3, 10)
EDITORIAL:
HOW MANY PEOPLE DO WE NEED?
The
state and various county governments of Florida have for several years been
locked in a series
of agonizing disputes with the boating industry and commercial
and recreational boaters over
regulation of waterborne activities for manatee protection. Where
boat-speed and other regulations have been implemented, there are
encouraging signs that manatee mortality from watercraft impacts may be
abating. However, the struggle to enact such regulations in the remaining
critical areas only seems to get harder as, with every passing month, the
numbers of people and boats in Florida
increase. According to Dr. Miriam Marmontel, computer models of
the manatees' population
structure show that their situation is
precarious: their predicted survival or
decline to extinction in the state is highly sensitive to changes in
mortality rates, and there seems
to be no room for error in those estimates that predict survival (see
abstract in this issue).
It is clear that the future of
manatees in Florida, not to mention other species in
other parts of the world, depends critically on self-restraint
by humans of their own numbers
and per-capita environmental impact.
Apart from our moral
obligation to preserve
endangered species for our
descendants, federal legislation such as the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972
and the Endangered
Species Act of 1973 mandates whatever
actions are needed
to maintain a viable manatee population. I submit that the time has
come to address seriously the issue of human population growth in this country,
and to do so in part by setting national
and regional goals for a desirable total population size.
Why do
this now? Why start doing it here (in Florida or the USA)? And most of
all, why should we
(the sirenian research/conservation community, or
the marine mammalogy community in general) be talking
about it, let alone taking the lead in it?
We need to do it now because manatees and other
endangered species can't wait. The increasingly strained
physical environment can't
wait. On a
global scale, the
exploding numbers of destitute
human beings can't wait. This also happens to be
an opportune time: public
appreciation of the problems and the stakes is at an all-time high, and
the new political atmosphere in Washington is relatively conducive to
addressing these problems. A "Warning to Humanity", circulated
by the Union of Concerned Scientists and endorsed by
more than 1,670 scientists from
71 countries (including 104 Nobel laureates), states that "we must accept limits" to population growth and stabilize the
world's population without delay.
Furthermore, governments of all countries have been requested to prepare
national population reports for the U.N. International Conference on Population
and Development to be held in Cairo, Egypt,
5-24 September 1994.
What form the United States' report takes, and how close
it comes to meeting the need for a realistic and
prudent national population policy, will depend largely on the extent and effectiveness of the demand
for such a policy.
We need to do it here in the U.S. because of the
deteriorating environmental situation here (especially in Florida), and because if we
can't do it here we can hardly expect others
to do it elsewhere.
The developing nations are
rightly indignant over the
developed nations' attempts to
portray overpopulation as strictly a Third World problem. As long ago as 1972,
the Commission on Population Growth and
the American Future, appointed by
President Nixon, concluded, "after two years of concentrated
effort," that "no substantial benefits would result from
continued growth of the nation's
population." That is as good
a definition of overpopulation as
I know, and
that was a
generation (and more
than 45 million
new Americans) ago.
Finally, WE
ought to be the ones to start the
ball rolling because we have (a)
many years of hard data showing (b) a dramatic impact on manatee
survival by (c) a rapidly growing human population that is both (d) affluent,
educated, and environmentally sophisticated and (e) having this impact largely
through activities that are recreational rather than (as in most of the world) vital to human survival. As we
have said more than once in recent years, manatees are an
ideal test case of human ability and will to protect endangered
wildlife: there is simply no respectable excuse
we Americans could
give to the world for the demise
of manatees in Florida.
Furthermore, the
official Florida Manatee Recovery Plan has as its
stated goal the downlisting of
Florida manatees from
"endangered" to "threatened" status.
The Plan itself specifies that
"Downlisting should be considered when ... the population is
growing or is stable,
when mortality factors are controlled at acceptable levels or are
decreasing, and when habitats
are secure and threats are controlled or are decreasing." Given
that human population growth is a prima facie mortality factor and threat
to the manatees' environment, it is
patently obvious that, despite all the good the Plan may accomplish, the
threat cannot possibly decrease as long as the human population of Florida continues
to grow, and therefore the Recovery Plan is
doomed to failure
according to its own criteria. The
"Recovery Plan" is an excellent research and management plan, but
as it stands it is not a recovery plan.
For these
reasons I propose that a careful and objective study be done to estimate,
as nearly as the available data permit, the maximum size
of Florida's human population that
is likely to be compatible with
the long-term survival of manatees in the state. This would be a
modest yet significant step on the long road to a
national population policy. The
study could appropriately be carried out under the auspices of a
respected, nonpartisan entity
having both responsibilities for marine mammal protection and a strong
history of commitment to it - for example,
the Florida Department of
Environmental Protection (formerly
the Department of Natural
Resources), the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, or (best, perhaps) the U.S.
Marine Mammal Commission. The
study should be done by a specially appointed panel of biologists, demographers, and
other qualified specialists.
The resulting estimate
would stand as a
challenge to the political system(s) involved, either to devise
acceptable ways of reaching the
implied goal, or to plan for the consequences of not doing
so. Even if the study did no more than
stimulate public debate
on the issue, this would be a
marked improvement over
the present conspiracy of silence among our civic leaders regarding
overpopulation.
The
slogan's familiarity has not diminished its force: If not now, when? If not us,
who? -
DPD
REPORT OF THE SIRENIA SPECIALIST GROUP MEETING
Members of the
Sirenia Specialist Group of the Species Survival Commission
of the IUCN met
in Sydney, Australia, on 10 July 1993, as part of a workshop
on sirenians and seagrasses held during the Sixth International
Theriological Congress [see
Abstracts, below]. The Sirenia
Specialist Group members noted that sirenians have been well studied in relatively few of the
60 countries whose waters they occupy. Nonetheless, there is growing interest
in developing sirenian research or conservation programs by scientists
in countries with unstudied or poorly
studied sirenian populations. In many cases, the scientists possess great enthusiasm, but lack
funds. Some of the scientists
wish to initiate expensive, high-technology programs (e.g., telemetry) at the outset. The
Sirenia Specialist Group recommends a more
fundamental, cost-effective approach to initiating a sirenian research
or conservation program.
The Sirenia
Specialist Group discussed
research priorities for
unstudied sirenian
populations. The Group recommends the following research
activities, listed in the order
in which they should be implemented:
1)
determine the presence or absence of sirenians in the regions;
2)
assess overall distribution and define high-use areas;
3)
describe general characteristics of important habitats;
4)
assess impacts of humans on the animals and plants;
5)
evaluate major aspects of population dynamics.
The Sirenia
Specialist Group advises that
scientists undertaking studies of
relatively unstudied
sirenian populations start
with fundamentals,
including, but not
limited to: 1) becoming
familiar with literature
dealing with sirenians elsewhere;
2) interviewing local people
who might provide
insight regarding
presence/absence, important habitat,
impacts (including directed take),
and cultural attitudes
that might either
facilitate or retard conservation efforts;
3) using knowledge already
available and generally
applicable (e.g., preference for
low-fiber seagrasses by dugongs, sirenian gestation periods) as a
framework for developing research questions that may assess
area-specific biological traits (e.g., age
at first reproduction); and
4) developing interdisciplinary alliances
with specialists (e.g., anthropologists, sociologists,
ecologists, or Geographic Information System specialists) whose expertise could be valuable in understanding and
conserving sirenians or habitat. The Sirenia Specialist Group
noted that the most important
studies of sirenians will
develop long-term databases, which
probably can only be
maintained by developing
local/regional expertise,
enthusiasm, and financial support.
The
sirenians are "flagship species", a term reflecting in this context
their visibility and the enthusiasm with
which the public often address sirenian-related issues. Efforts to preserve sirenians may,
therefore, be easier to fund or
to engender public support for than efforts
to preserve other components of ecosystems. Nonetheless, adequate and
appropriate conservation of sirenians
within a particular
region will have
important consequences for
habitat conservation.
In this regard, the Sirenia Specialist Group
notes that education and awareness efforts should parallel research to achieve regional goals
of sirenian or habitat protection.
Education, like research, should have a local focus, and should be
region-specific to accommodate cultural or
socio-economic practices.
However, effective education programs
also involve educating managers and
administrators who can provide funds
for initiation and
continuation of programs, and
the scientists themselves (i.e., through familiarity with relevant
literature). The Sirenia Specialist
Group recommends that
development of multi-focal
education programs accompany
development of research programs.
In summary,
the Sirenia Specialist
Group recommends a
step-wise approach to research,
as well as a multi-focal
education program, to learn about
and conserve unstudied sirenian populations.
A great deal
can be learned
and accomplished using
fundamental approaches that require neither high levels of funding nor
extensive technological expertise. - John
E. Reynolds, III
FIRST INTERNATIONAL MANATEE AND DUGONG
RESEARCH CONFERENCE
The
First International Manatee and Dugong Research Conference will take place at
the Hilton Hotel in Gainesville,
Florida, Friday-Sunday, 11-13 March, 1994, and will deal
with all aspects of sirenian biology, conservation, and evolution. The
conference will include a field trip
to Homosassa Springs on 11 March,
with oral and poster presentations on the
other two days. Seven
invited speakers will give 30-minute talks, each followed by
several 15-minute contributed
papers. The banquet speaker on Saturday evening will be Tom O'Shea.
Those wishing to give a presentation should submit
a 1-3 page manuscript (8.5" x
11" paper, 1" margins,
10-point or larger font) by 1 December 1993. Tables and
line drawings may be
incorporated, but not
halftones. Indicate your
preference for an
oral or poster presentation. Slots
for oral presentations are limited and will be allocated by
the organizing committee. Manuscripts,
and questions on conference
content, can be directed to Roger
L. Reep, Dept. of
Physiological Sciences, Box
100144 JHMHC, University
of Florida, Gainesville, FL
32610; phone (904)
392-4700, ext. 3859; fax
(904) 392-5145; Internet REEP@CORTEX.HEALTH.UFL.EDU.
Established investigators, students, and interested lay
people are encouraged to attend.
Each attendee will
receive at the meeting a bound volume of the
papers presented at the
meeting. Participation is
limited to 250 people. Registration costs are
$70 for non-student participants, $30 for students;
late registration (after 1 December) is $110 or $50, respectively. The charge
for the banquet
is $18, and
for the field
trip, $15 (lunch
included). For
registration, contact Pat Neilson, University of Florida, IFAS Office of
Conferences, P.O. Box 110750,
Gainesville, FL 32611-0750; phone (904) 392-5930; fax (904) 392-9734.
MARINE MAMMAL E-MAIL DISCUSSION LIST
A marine
mammal research and
conservation e-mail discussion
list has been established, using the listserver at
the University of Victoria. The purpose of this is to facilitate
discussion regarding research
and conservation of marine mammals, as
well as for
posting conference or meeting
announcements, volunteer opportunities, new techniques or equipment available, new books or journals
published, etc.
There is no
cost for subscribing. Messages sent to
the list (marmam@uvvm.uvic.ca) will be forwarded to all members subscribing to
the list. To subscribe, send a message
to the listserver
(listserv@uvvm.uvic.ca or listserv@uvic.bitnet), with a message in the text
saying:
subscribe MARMAM your name
The subject line in the message should be left
blank.
Please
forward this message to any colleagues working on marine mammal research or conservation topics. Questions regarding
the list can be sent to the list managers, David Duffus (ddvffvs@uvvm.uvic.ca)
or Robin Baird (rbaird@sfu.ca). - Robin
Baird
LOCAL NEWS
BRAZIL
New
Manatee Journal. - The
Brazilian environment agency IBAMA has inaugurated a new technical
journal devoted entirely to research on the nation's manatees. Entitled Peixe-Boi, or
manatee, it is
published in Portuguese by
IBAMA's National Center for
Conservation and Management of Sirenians, and is edited by Danielle Paludo.
Publication began in 1992
with Ano 1, No. 1,
a spiral-bound issue of 73
pages containing six articles (see Recent Literature, below). The contents deal with both Amazonian
and West Indian
manatees and cover such
topics as distribution, status,
and conservation in the
wild and diet, growth, behavior,
and blood chemistry
of captive animals.
Peixe-Boi (ISSN
0103-9431) has its editorial offices
at the Centro
Peixe-Boi/IBAMA, Av. Dom Pedro
II, no.
3484, Joa~o Pessoa, Parai'ba, CEP
58040-440, Brazil. All submissions and correspondence regarding
the journal should
be directed to
that address. No price for subscriptions is given.
We congratulate the editor and
publishers of this welcome
addition to the sirenian literature, and
wish Peixe-Boi a successful future.
Conservation Recommendations. - The 5a. Reunio'n de Trabajo de
Especialistas en Mami'feros Acua'ticos de Ame'rica del Sur, held in September of 1992 in Buenos Aires,
Argentina, included a round-table
meeting on the problems
of sirenian conservation in
Brazil. This meeting, coordinated
by Ricardo J. Soavinski, recommended the
following (translated from Portuguese):
1. A
survey of the distribution
and occurrence of the
Amazonian manatee, and continuation of
surveys of distribution and occurrence of West Indian manatees in Brazil.
2. Evaluation
and quantification of incidental entanglements of
manatees in fishing nets, as
well as of intentional captures of manatees for food.
3. Evaluation of the quality of manatee
habitats in Brazil. Evaluation of
heavy-metal and organochlorine levels in
sirenian tissues should be emphasized.
4. Monitoring
of manatees in
their principal areas of
occurrence and in areas of demonstrated
importance in their life cycles.
5.
Studies of population dynamics and genetics
in order to
evaluate groups and populations.
6. Creation
and establishment of Conservation Units in priority areas in order to
preserve sirenians and the ecosystem as
a whole.
7.
Immediate creation of the Barra do
Rio Mamanguape Environmental Protection Area in Parai'ba; of a conservation unit in the
Rio Timonhas estuary, in Piaui'; and of another in the coastal region of
Tabuba, in Alagoas - areas of
demonstrated importance for conservation
of the West
Indian manatee in the
Brazilian Northeast.
8. Development
of environmental education campaigns in the area of distribution of
sirenians, in order to prevent
their extinction.
9. Greater
participation of aquatic mammal specialists
in discussions about sirenians and
mustelids in future
meetings and congresses.
10. Extension of
these recommendations to
other South American
countries where sirenians occur
and that possibly face the same problems
as Brazil.
COLOMBIA
Conditions for
Captive Manatees Improved.
- Rubby Montoya of the Caribbean Stranding Network (CSN), Puerto
Rico, reports on the status of a young female
West Indian manatee, formerly held in very inadequate facilities
at the Jardin
Zoolo'gico de Barranquilla. Following
unsuccessful attempts to have
the animal transferred to other facilities,
the latter institution has
now been taken over
from the city government by a
new, privately-sponsored enterprise, the Fundacio'n Zoolo'gico de Barranquilla.
This new foundation has
promised to treat the manatee's welfare as its top priority, implementing
some of
CSN's recommendations for
improvements in the animal's
diet and
contracting more capable zookeepers.
Construction of a new holding facility and development of managerial and
educational programs are being
monitored by INDERENA
(the Colombian government's natural
resources agency) and by CSN.
Several other manatees held in CSN-sponsored
semicaptive colonies in the towns
of Magangue' and Pinto
were also examined recently, and
found to be in good health. With
the help of CSN and
the Save the Manatee
Club (Florida), educational efforts in
Magangue' are also bearing
fruit. A
"Club Amigos del Manati'", comprising
113 high school students,
was created in
October 1992. They have been
spreading the word about
manatee conservation to
other schoolchildren, assisting in
fieldwork, and representing their
state at a science fair
in Bogota', and are
now seen by
the Magangue' community as a symbol
of conservation education for
the new generation.
FLORIDA
Manatees "Introduced"
into Florida??? - In the course of a rancorous
debate like the one presently
raging in Florida over boat speed
limits, it is to be hoped
that the parties to the discussion will try to get
their facts straight. This
ideal, however, is not
always achieved, as seen from the inaugural issue of a
newsletter published by the Boat Owners Association of The United
States. In BOAT/U.S. Reports*Florida, Vol. 1, No. 1, April
1993, a letter to the editor
from Jim Walters of Jupiter,
Florida, is published with an editorial
endorsement stating that
"... every once in a
while we get a letter on a
controversial issue which is so well
written that it deserves to be widely shared. Whether you
agree or disagree with Mr. Walters,
we would like to hear from you." Excerpts from Mr. Walters' letter follow:
"Having been in the marine industry in our state, I have seen countless
numbers of rules and regulations regarding our
waterways grow, many of them good and many of them bad.
"Here
is my plan to solve the greatest boating
issue placed before the Governor and Cabinet
members: the dispute
between the recreational boaters,
the manatee and
the DNR (Florida Dept. of Natural Resources).
"Years ago,
manatees were brought here to Florida and released in
the freshwater canals to eat and
maintain the overgrowth of hyacinths. It
seemed to be a good idea, but it really didn't
work. Instead, the giant manatees
worked their way
through the canal network and ventured out into the
intracoastal waterways and ocean. This was not part
of the plan and they easily adapted to the
salt water....
"Like
all other endangered animals in the
world, the manatee is faced with the same problems as the elephant, the
rhinoceros and the buffalo. They have become
endangered because they got in the way of man's
progress....
"The
current attempt to crush boating and restrict
God's greatest mammal,
man, from his greatest
Florida pastime, boating and water sports, is absolutely
ludicrous.
"Let's handle
the manatee like all
other endangered species we have
dealt with in the
past. We will select for them
one of the largest and most beautiful lakes we have to
offer in Florida. We will
build them the ultimate habitat....
"Let's get our rescue team out
there and gather up the
remaining manatees and transport them to their new, safe home in the middle of the state where they can live
happily ever after...." [Emphasis added]
Just
for the record, the oldest currently
known Trichechus fossils from
Florida are Early Pleistocene in age (about 1.0-1.5 million
years old), and the earliest remains
of any sirenians in the state are
Middle Eocene (around 45 million years old). In fact, at the moment Florida happens to be the
only place on the
planet where fossil
sirenians are known from
every geological epoch
from Eocene to Recent!
If you
would like to respond to the
invitation of the
editors of BOAT/U.S.
Reports*Florida to comment on
this letter, their address is 880 S. Pickett St.,
Alexandria, VA 22304 USA. - DPD
INDONESIA
Dugong
Seminar in Ambon. - During
7, 8 and 10 April 1993
an International Seminar was held
in Ambon on Coastal Zone Management of Small
Island Ecosystems, with
special reference to
turtle and dugong conservation.
The seminar
was funded by the
European Economic Community
and was organized by
the Environmental Studies Centre of
the Pattimura University
in Ambon, in cooperation
with the National Science Institute
LIPI, AID Environment Amsterdam, and the Centre
for Environmental Science, Leiden University, The Netherlands.
Some
65 participants from Indonesia,
Canada, USA, Australia,
UK and The Netherlands participated in
the seminar. Although its scope covered a wide range
of subjects related to coastal
zone management and marine conservation, the importance
of the seminar for the conservation of Sirenia in Indonesia was the official recognition of the need
for conservation and proper management
of dugong populations
in Indonesian coastal waters.
The seminar
was attended by
the Governor of the
Moluccas Province, the Assistant Minister
for the Environment (representing the Minister), the Ambassador of
the EEC, and the Rector of the
Pattimura University.
During his keynote speech the Assistant
Minister stressed the importance
of the conservation of
endangered and vulnerable marine species
such as sea turtles and
dugongs, and the need for an integrated
system of coastal zone management.
Hans de Iongh presented an
overview of the
results of ongoing research on
dugong feeding ecology in the Moluccas.
During
workshop sessions, the participants
elaborated on a large number of specific
recommendations, such as
the need for further
inventories of dugong populations
in Indonesian coastal waters, the establishment of a
National Conservation Strategy
and Action Plan for Dugongs in Indonesia,
and the need to increase the number of
Marine Conservation Areas.
The International Seminar
also marked the start of a Coastal Zone
Management Project, funded by the EEC. Drs. Henk Blaauw, project
leader, and Mark van
der Wal, ecologist, have been
assigned to this project
to assist the staff of the
Environmental Studies Centre of the Pattimura University to implement
coastal zone inventories, mapping, planning,
and a range
of pilot projects in support of
coastal communities. A specific research
programme, with cooperation between Dutch and Indonesian staff and students,
covers the distribution, migration, and feeding
ecology of dugongs
in the Moluccas.
Further
information on the project and the
seminar proceedings can be obtained through: Drs.
Henk Blaauw, Mark van der Wal,
and Desi Norimarna,
Environmental Programme
Maluku (EPM), POB
221, Ambon, Indonesia (telephone
62-911-61236; fax 62-911-61455).
- Hans de Iongh
OMAN
Does
the Dugong Occur in Omani Waters? - From our knowledge of the present
world distribution of the dugong
(e.g., Thornback & Jenkins, 1982, IUCN Mammal Red Data Book; Bertram & Bertram,
1973, Biol. J. Linn. Soc.), it is not expected along the
coast of eastern Arabia except
as stray migrants, but there are
only two references to this ever occurring: remarks attributed to W. Travis to the effect that there are "occasional strays at Mukalla and Kuria Muria
Islands" (Bertram &
Bertram, 1973: 307), and mentions
of Bab el Mandeb in the past (Preen, 1989, MEPA Coastal & Marine
Management Series (Saudi Arabia), Rept. #10, Vol. 1).
Oman has
a coastline in
excess of 1800 km
between Yemen and the
Arabian Gulf, so the question "Does the dugong occur in Omani waters?" has never been far
from our thoughts. It
gained prominence again during
the preparation of the Whale
Hall extension (opened in
December 1992) to the Oman Natural
History Museum at Muscat, where
we were able to include
one exhibit exclusively for the
dugong, its range, status, habits and
threats.
Beds of seagrasses along the coast of Oman
are small, sparse
and ephemeral (IUCN, 1988, Oman:
Coastal Zone Management
Plan - Quriyat to
Ra's al Hadd, Report for Ministry of Commerce &
Industry, Oman), with the notable exception of the area of Barr al Hikman (opposite the
island of Masirah), and
the Ghubbat Hashish
in particular. Here Salm (1991, Shoreland
and Marine Environments, Sultanate
of Oman, Report for Ministry of Commerce &
Industry, Oman) reports the densest and
greatest variety of seagrasses in the Sultanate, with at least five genera present (Halodule,
Halophila, Thalassia,
Thalassodendron, and Syringodium), all
of potential use
to dugongs, which, however,
have never been reported here.
When
it was suggested by other States during
the Gulf War
that dugongs under threat
in the Arabian Gulf might be
translocated to Oman, we pointed out that
though the area just mentioned seemed
suitable, the fact that
dugongs were not
present was probably an
indication of its
unsuitability, particularly
because this coast is affected by
the very cold current generated by the
strong winds of the southwest monsoon of summer.
So
far, our searches on the islands and the
coast of Oman during the
last 17
years have yielded no
evidence of dugongs. However, dugongs
may very occasionally stray eastward in the Arabian Gulf to
reach Omani shores in the Musandam
region. Individuals may also
occur in Omani waters when on passage between the populations of the Red Sea and Africa and those to
the east, when they
would not necessarily
keep to shallow water or pause
to feed.
Nevertheless,
the report of "occasional strays
... on the Kuria Muria Islands"
attributed to Travis
is most unusual,
and it would be good to have confirmation of this.
- Michael D. Gallagher
(Natural History Museum, P.O.
Box 668, Muscat 113, Sultanate of Oman, fax 602735)
PUERTO RICO