Swimming with Manatees? Why not! Swimming with the manatees is one of the most incredible things to do in Florida. Manatees also known as Sea Cows are very playful aquatic mammals that visit the springs in Citrus County year round. The average adult manatee is roughly 10 feet long and weighs [...]
April 13, 2007 — By Jim Loney, ReutersMIAMI -- Florida manatees are dying in record numbers and the lumbering marine mammals face growing threats from speedboats, a toxic foe called red tide and the potential loss of their warm winter havens at power plants. So why is the U.S. government talking about removing its protective "endangered" label, conservationists ask. "It's a concern because the mortality numbers are still so high," said Dr. Maya Rodriguez, a veterinarian at the Miami Seaquarium who treats sick and injured manatees. "All it might take is a few power plants to close or a really bad red tide to really hurt the population." The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced this week that the slow-moving West Indian manatee, one of the first creatures put on the U.S. endangered species list in the 1960s, no longer qualifies as endangered. That follows a similar move by Florida officials last year. Wildlife officials say the manatee is not in immediate danger of extinction an
92 votes (31%) Doom/Drone/Stoner Thanks for vote to everyone! AARNI Aarni - BathosDoom/Avantgarde/Freak/Finland Folk/Doom DownloadMirrorWebsiteAARNI are a crazy Doom band from Finland and they sound quite original. But also very exhausting for the typical Metalhead. Is that still Metal or Art Rock already? No idea – the fact is that AARNI create a very special atmosphere which seems pretty stoned eh dreamy. Complex soundscapes appear before your inner eye, which leave room for a self-interpretation. All in all a very appealing album, even though confusing at first. I haven’t heard anything comparable before. A relaxed sound which contains progressive, doomy as well as very dreamy passages and which either captivates you or doesn’t move you at all. I think there is no in between. Hurz! Firedoom, subsello de Firebox dedicado puramente a lo más lento y oscuro de su catálogo, nos ofrece el segundo álbum oficial de estos finlandeses, después de un split CD, que son más raros
New research suggests that manatees' tactile sense is so finely tuned that the animals may experience 'touch at a distance' - an ability to 'feel' objects and events in the water from relatively far away.
In recent studies marine biologists Roger Reep and Diana Sarko at the University of Florida in Gainesville found that the giant mammals are covered with special whiskerlike hairs that act as sensors.
'We discovered that [manatees] have what are called tactile hairs all over their bodies, unlike most mammals, which just have whiskers on their faces,' said Reep, from the university's College of Veterinary Medicine.
Together these tactile hairs form a kind of sensory array, the biologists say, possibly allowing manatees to detect changes in current, water temperature, and even tidal forces.
...In a separate study (*see below) Reep and Sarko also found that manatees have more brain space dedicated to the sense of touch than other mammals do.
The research, published last month in t
I hope posting photos of someone famous doing their work is kosher. I'm at the big Scuba diving trade show in Orlando for a few days. Wyland, a well known aquatic wildlife artist (many will know of him from his "whaling wall" murals in many cities) was there doing a smallish mural for the show.We saw him laying down the first black for the background in the morning, a couple hours later he'd lined out the manatees (first photo) and by day's end he was at the point of the second photo.Orlando was quite nice today, Kona-like weather, it'd been a tad bit chilly and breezy earlier compared to what Pat and I are used to in Kona. Now that I'v figured out how to edit and reduce the resolution of photos on my laptop, I'll try to take some more pics in the next day or two to give yuou an idea of what goes on at the trade show. later, Steve
And not at the zoo!
From CNN.com
Manatee finds way Memphis
POSTED: 7:33 a.m. EDT, October 24, 2006
MEMPHIS, Tennessee (AP) — An adventurous manatee strayed far from its usual coastal habitat to make an appearance on a Mississippi River tributary near downtown Memphis on Monday.
The distance on the curvy river from near its delta in Louisiana to Memphis is more than 725 miles, according to Army Corps of Engineers charts.
“I got a call about 3 p.m. about either a hippo or a manatee in the water,” said Andy Tweed, an officer with the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency. Officers from the agency and zoologists from the Memphis Zoo confirmed the sighting and observed the animal from boats.
Read the rest here
There's something about the name Manatees that has the uninitiated (but about to be blown away) listener expecting passages of calm ambience, a series of soundscapes ideal for drifting away to, as if sailing a still sea, the gentlest breeze propelling your vessel. Ha.
Manatees are brothers of doom and no mistake: this three-piece carve their works from solidified sludge, they grind out riffs so
