New Study Disrupts Our Understanding of Florida’s Manatee History, the “Sea Cows”

Florida manatees, an endangered species, are believed to have appeared in the state in the late 1800s and early 1900s, according to a recent study.

Manatees came to Florida centuries later

A historical study written by USF anthropology professor Thomas Pluckhahn and GWU archeology professor David Thulman shows that Florida manatees have not been present in this region for several centuries, as was previously known. . The most likely view is that these marine mammals were present from the mid-1500s. Which would probably not be the case.

Indeed, The Guardian tells us that it is by analyzing several historical facts such as the “little ice age” that the American state experienced between the 1300s and the mid-1800s. And it would only be at this moment- where the manatees would have “set down their suitcases” in the warm waters of Florida.

A lack of archives before the 1900s

In their study, the two professors noted that historical archives on manatees were rare, until 1920. “Manatees are very little represented in archaeological and archival documents before the end of the 1700s,” Pluckhahn told the newspaper, before going on to explain that it was only from the 1920s that documentation and sightings of these animals in this region began to be more regular.

Manatees are animals that live in hot spots, a characteristic that Florida's waters only acquired in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Which can be explained, according to the study, by climate change or even the increase in electricity production.

Florida manatees, an endangered species

The Florida manatee, also called the “sea cow”, is a subspecies of the Caribbean manatee. It is a species that is in danger, particularly due to the loss and lack of warm water, a necessary condition for the survival of these mammals.

Water pollution, particularly with the plastics they ingest, is also a threat to manatees. According to The Guardian, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is currently evaluating manatees for “endangered” status on the IUCN Red List. a status that they lost under the mandate of Donald Trump in 2017.

Source: The Guardian