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Mr. DiNGELL. Our next witness is Dr. Daniel Hartman, Paradise 

 Point Nature Center, N.H. 



Will you identify yourself for the record and then we will be pleased 

 to hear from you. 



STATEMENT OF DANIEL HARTMAN, PH. D., PARADISE POINT 



NATURE CENTER, N.H. 



Dr. Hartman. My name is Daniel Hartman. I am here to testify 

 on behalf of a rare and little known group of mammals called siren- 

 ians. The group is represented in the United States by a single species, 

 the Florida manatee or sea cow. 



Recently, I had the pleasure of studying the natural history of this 

 animal for a year and a half. My research was sponsored by the Na- 

 tional Geographic Society and presented as a doctoral dissertation to 

 Cornell University. 



There are but four species of sirenians. All are immediately threat- 

 ened with extinction, a fate which has already befallen their cousin, 

 Steller's sea cow. Discovered in 1741 off two islands in the Bering Sea, 

 this toothless 25-foot leviathan was ruthlessly killed for meat by fur 

 sealers. The last one was harpooned and clubbed to death a mere 27 

 years after their discovery. 



At the turn of the century, the Florida manatee was on the thresh- 

 old of extermination. Formerly ranging along the coast from the 

 Carolinas to Mexico, the animal was slaughtered in all but the most 

 sequestered backwaters. Manatee steaks were, and still are, considered a 

 delicacy. The manatees were soon reduced to a few relict populations 

 scattered along the Florida peninsula. Since then, their status and 

 distribution has changed imperceptibly, if at all. 



The Florida manatee is protected "by State law. There is a $500 

 fine for killing or molesting a sea cow. This penalty is rarely en- 

 forced. The law, furthermore, has little relevance today. It was origi- 

 nally designed to protect manatees from poachers, but poaching is no 

 longer a serious threat. 



Instead, manatees face new dangers. In several areas, notably around 

 Tampa and in the St. Johns River, water contaminated by herbicide 

 spraying, dredging, and/or industrial effluents has destroyed the vege- 

 tation on which the animals feed. 



Still more hazardous to their survival, indeed the chief source of 

 manatee mortality, are the whirling propellers of speeding power 

 craft wthich overtake the animals unaware at the surface. 



To adequately protect the manatee, therefore, new legislation must 

 be enacted, legislation that is directed toward pollution abatement 

 and reducation of boat speeds in manatee habitat. 



In every nation where sirenians occur — other than tihe United 

 States — ^their numbers are dwindling fast. In this country, the manatee 

 is apparently holding its own, for the moment anyway, but its status 

 is tenuous. We do, however, have an opportunity to bring them back, 

 perfiaps to set an international precedent. 



I suggest this because it appears that manatees are on the increase, 

 at least on the central west coast of Florida where I conducted my 

 study. Their recovery in the area parallels a recent eruption of in- 

 troduced aquatic "weeds." 



