Manatee removed from Florida's endangered list

One childhood memory I'll never forget is seeing a yellow "Beware of Manatees" sign on the docks in Beaufort, North Carolina (pronounced "Bo-fort," unlike South Carolina's Beaufort, where "Beau-" is pronounced the way it is in "beautiful"), complete with a street-sign-style depiction of the strange animal. As I got older, I would go back to the same docks, and every single time, I'd swear to whoever was with me that there used to be a "Beware of Manatees" sign there as a child, half-wondering if I was making the whole thing up. Years later, I'm proud to point out that several online encyclopedias list Beaufort, NC as the Northern limit of the Florida Manatee's range - so maybe I wasn't crazy after all, and the sign really did exist at one point. [eNature.com]

On Wednesday, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted unanimously to remove the Florida Manatee from the state's endangered species list. [NY Times] The main reason? The Florida Manatee population has grown from 1,000 to 3,000 during the last 30 years. Here's to another three productive decades for the species once known as the "sea cow."

UPDATED 6/10/06:

The New York Times artice mentioned that there has been criticism of the decision to change the Florida Manatee's status. The main arguments are that the requirements for being "endangered" (as compared to merely "threatened," to which the species is being downgraded) are too strict, and that the manatee population will drop rapidly if protections are loosened. Here's a sampling of coverage from Florida:

"Manatee madness makes mercury rise at meeting" [TCPalm]
"State drops endangered designation for manatees" [Herald Tribune]
"Let science govern choices on species" [Miami Herald]
"Die Faster, Manatees" [The Ledger]
"State agency's downlisting would be a victory of politics over protection" [Florida Today]
Save the Manatee Club [savethemanatee.org]

UPDATED 8/8/06:

File this under "things that don't necessarily prove that global warming is happening, but are pretty convincing evidence":

"Massive Manatee Is Spotted in Hudson River" [New York Times]