The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is looking for information regarding the harassment of a Florida manatee found Sunday in the Homosassa River with the word “Trump” etched into its back.
“It’s been My experience that this is very out of character for this community,” Craig Cavanna, senior federal wildlife officer and investigating officer, told the Citrus County Chronicle.
“Wildlife conservation is a core value in Citrus County. That’s why it’s called the Nature Coast,” he explained, adding that the agency is following leads.
“The USFWS is encouraging anyone with knowledge of the incident to call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at 888-404-FWCC (3922). Information will be forwarded to the USFWS,” the Chronicle report said.
Underwater video footage appeared to show the animal with the letters scraped onto its back:
The mammals make their homes in the state’s many waterways, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s website:
The Florida manatee, a subspecies of the West Indian manatee, is native to Florida and has existed here for millions of years. Manatees are large, gray, tube-shaped marine mammals with leathery looking skin, whiskered faces, flippers, and paddle-shaped tails. The average adult manatee is about 10 feet long. Often referred to as “sea cows” because of their grazing habits, Florida manatees are found throughout peninsular Florida.
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Manatees live in many aquatic habitats. Most of the year, the animals may be found in fresh or salt water, preferring calmer rivers, estuaries, bays and canals around coastal Florida. In the winter, manatees seek warmer waters and often migrate to the discharge areas near power plants and in natural warm water springs to survive the cold temperatures.
To avoid charges of manatee harassment, the commission advises people not to feed, harm, or “use your vessel to pursue or harass manatees.”
“Manatees are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and the Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act of 1978,” the site said.
“Anyone convicted of violating state law faces maximum fines of $500 and/or imprisonment of up to 60 days. Conviction for violating federal protection laws is punishable by fines up to $100,000 and/or one year in prison,” it concluded.
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