Why is the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service establishing Kings Bay as a manatee refuge on an emergency basis?
A2: Service biologists determined that the existing manatee sanctuaries are now too small to adequately provide protected areas for Kings Bay’s manatees where they can rest, free from distracting waterborne activities. They also determined that there is substantial evidence that there is imminent danger of a taking of one or more manatees in these waters; and such establishment is necessary to prevent the direct harassment, harm, or loss of manatees. The manatee protection measures currently in place were established more than a decade ago. The number of wintering manatees using Kings Bay has increased since then, and the current sanctuaries are too small to accommodate this number of animals. Human uses of Kings Bay also have increased well beyond the impacts originally considered when the existing sanctuaries were created.
Related Questions
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