manatee are a well - acknowledge staple of Florida waters , where they ’ve been seen romp withdolphin pod , shape helter-skelter “ sexual union balls ” , and even being the dupe ofpolitical graffiti . However , new research into the species ’ Florida universe has suggested they might be a relatively new addition to the Sunshine State .
The paper – co - authored by University of South Florida anthropologist Thomas Pluckhahn and archaeology professor at George Washington University David Thulman – found that in precolonial Florida , manatees in all probability visited only occasionally as tourer before returning to the coast of Cuba and the Caribbean islands .
By looking through archival records , the team found that everyday sightings of manatee in Miami and St. Augustine only begin to be recorded in the 1920s and XXX and that there were no described accounts of the metal money by Internet Explorer put down in Tampa Bay between 1528 and 1595 . It was n’t until the 1950s that manatee populations in Tampa Bay were deemed significant and the mintage start to make up as permanent residents .
The trigger for this sudden universe growth is , ironically , think to be due to the raise insea temperatures – a cistron now place these aristocratical giants underthreat .
The researchers hypothesize that the Little Ace Age – a period of intermittent cooling system between the 1200s and 1800s – made Florida ’s waters too cold for Trichechus manatus to flourish . It was n’t until these effects lessen and subsequent world warming caused ocean temperature to increase that the orbit ’s waters became tender enough – and now potentially too warm – to affirm manatees .
“ It is commonly assumed that Florida manatee universe were once larger than they are today , ” Pluckhahn said in astatement . “ Many will find the consequence surprising , not only because it contradicts this assumption but also because it indicate the complexness of changes that have contract place in the Anthropocene . ”
Pluckhahn , who has been a part of archaeological excavation in the Tampa Bay area since 2008 , described a want of Trichechus manatus bones found at archeologic sites in the area as fuel for further investigation into the species ’ precolonial populations .
An analysis of nearly two million animal bones from 70 archaeological reports found pretty much no Trichechus manatus bones in Florida . While further analyses did uncover manatee bone that appeared to have been modified for use as tool or ornamentation , it ’s thought that these were traded between native Floridian populations and those in the Caribbean islands where manatees were living .
Known as “ ocean moo-cow ” , these gentle monster can grow to around 3 meters ( 10 feet ) long and live in both fresh and seawater , but prefer Florida ’s calm river and estuary . Abundance surveysconducted in 2015 - 2016 and again in 2021 - 2022 show overlap intervals of estimated population size , meaning it ’s unclear whether Trichechus manatus numbers have increase , decreased , or remained unchanging through those periods .
However , after the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission ( FFWCC)reporteda platter number of Trichechus manatus death in 2021 , with 1,100 immortalise cases , there ’s evidence to suggest Florida ’s manatee populations are under threat . This is echoed by the categorization of the West Indian Manatee ( Trichechus manatus ) – of which the Florida Trichechus manatus is a subspecies – as “ vulnerable ” on theIUCN ’s flushed listing .
To protect the remaining Trichechus manatus populations , local assurance havea numeral of lawsin place to avail ensure these fully grown ocean cows can safely graze in Florida ’s water for many years to derive .
This study is release in the journalPLOS ONE .
