Author Topic: "It's all fun and games" or "Oh! the huge Manatee" (Read 5206 times)

lupinus · « **on:** October 03, 2012, 05:40:03 AM »

Till someone rides the manatee

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/article1254405.ece

All the times I've see a manatee, nothing in me has said "Hey, I'll hop on and ride that sucker!"

BobR · « **Reply #1 on:** October 03, 2012, 06:25:09 AM »

Just exactly which one is the sea cow?

bob

MillCreek · « **Reply #2 on:** October 03, 2012, 06:47:46 AM »

Oh, the huge manatee!

Interesting how the linked article went on about the psychological impact to the manatee of being ridden.

vaskidmark · « **Reply #3 on:** October 03, 2012, 06:48:04 AM »

Someone has to say it.

stay safe.

Fly320s · « **Reply #4 on:** October 03, 2012, 06:55:23 AM »

Quote from: MillCreek on October 03, 2012, 06:47:46 AM

Oh, the huge manatee!

Interesting how the linked article went on about the psychological impact to the manatee of being ridden.

Maybe the manatee liked it.

AZRedhawk44 · « **Reply #5 on:** October 03, 2012, 07:28:46 AM »

How is this any different than what people do with dolphins on very lucky encounters?

Quote

Many [manatees] are curious about human beings. Their tolerance of people's presence has led sea cows to mutilation or death when run over by motorboats.

The manatee strikes me as a cross-species benevolent creature that is just fatter and dumber than a dolphin. The woman did not "molest" the animal by any of the 3 definitions provided by this resource:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/molest?s=t

Quote

1.
to bother, interfere with, or annoy.
2.
to make indecent sexual advances to.
3.
to assault sexually.

According to Wikipedia, manatees are capable of bursts of speed up to 20mph. So it can get away if annoyed by a human. And it can demonstrate "annoyance" to observers by traveling at that speed (among other defensive techniques as well).

MrsSmith · « **Reply #6 on:** October 03, 2012, 08:13:38 AM »

Manatees really aren't fat - they only have about a quarter inch of body fat, which is why they return to warmer waters in the winter. Just had to toss out that tidbit of useful information.

But this is all part of the whole "we love our fellow mammals" protection act which has been overblown and taken to the nth degree in recent years. In GA, $20,000. fine for interfering with a marine mammal, which includes manatees. Yep, that's four zeros. And they take that crap seriously. Local shrimper was hamming it up for tourists, got fined and lost his license for holding a piece of shrimp overboard to a dolphin. A man's livelihood gone over a piece of shrimp that, had he swept it off the deck with a shovel would still have been eaten by the dolphin but would have been legal. Utterly freakin' ridiculous.

bedlamite · « **Reply #7 on:** October 03, 2012, 08:25:11 AM »

Is that like jumping the shark?

HankB · « **Reply #8 on:** October 03, 2012, 08:47:01 AM »

Quote from: MrsSmith on October 03, 2012, 08:13:38 AM

Manatees really aren't fat - they only have about a quarter inch of body fat, which is why they return to warmer waters in the winter. Just had to toss out that tidbit of useful information.

But this is all part of the whole "we love our fellow mammals" protection act which has been overblown and taken to the nth degree in recent years. In GA, $20,000. fine for interfering with a marine mammal, which includes manatees. Yep, that's four zeros. And they take that crap seriously. Local shrimper was hamming it up for tourists, got fined and lost his license for holding a piece of shrimp overboard to a dolphin. A man's livelihood gone over a piece of shrimp that, had he swept it off the deck with a shovel would still have been eaten by the dolphin but would have been legal. Utterly freakin' ridiculous.

Sounds like not just a stupid law, but some stupid jurors as well.

MechAg94 · « **Reply #9 on:** October 03, 2012, 12:04:52 PM »

A bunch of those manatees get hit by boat motors don't they? I really doubt being ridden by a sea cow would hurt it much. It can alway dive and take the human for a nice deep ride.

BobR · « **Reply #10 on:** October 03, 2012, 12:12:40 PM »

Quote

It can alway dive and take the human for a nice deep ride.

That it could.

I used to tell all of the people who used to tell me dolphins were kind and gentle, and had even saved people from drowning, that that is only because you only heard about those few they brought back. You never heard about the people they took out to sea to play with, got bored with, and left them there to drown.

bob

Harold Tuttle · « **Reply #11 on:** October 03, 2012, 05:13:47 PM »

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/10/03/162230744/manhunt-for-manatee-riding-lady-comes-to-an-end-in-florida

For a short period, yesterday, the hunt was on in Pinellas County, Florida for a lady photographed riding a manatee.

The sheriff's department called a deadly serious press conference in which they asked the help of the public in identifying the perpetrator. The lady was wearing a white cap, red shorts and a black bikini top. Witnesses in the area, the sheriff said in a statement, took photographs and contacted police.

deadly serious

Tallpine · « **Reply #12 on:** October 03, 2012, 05:19:50 PM »

I don't see the problem. She wasn't wearing spurs

AZRedhawk44 · « **Reply #13 on:** October 03, 2012, 06:07:16 PM »

Dude, you are so behind. This is totally "yesterday" in APS-world.

http://www.armedpolitesociety.com/index.php?topic=36383.0

zxcvbob · « **Reply #14 on:** October 03, 2012, 06:22:16 PM »

dogmush · « **Reply #15 on:** October 03, 2012, 06:26:58 PM »

Sigh. At least I moved out of Pinellas County in June.

BlueStarLizzard · « **Reply #16 on:** October 03, 2012, 06:31:54 PM »

Well, at least the manatee had fun.

Quote from: lupinus on October 03, 2012, 05:40:03 AM

Till someone rides the manatee

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/article1254405.ece

All the times I've see a manatee, nothing in me has said "Hey, I'll hop on and ride that sucker!"

They're not scared of humans, our weight, combine with the boyant effects of salt water is probably nothing to them, and they show signs of curiosity and playfulness?
Other then stupid laws and potential injury to oneself, why not?
Basic human vs. manatee and the manatee is going to win, hands down, everytime. It's only when humans have tools that the manatee is endangered.

There arn't many wild animals that people can interact with in the animals habitat. Seems stupid to bar ourselfs from the wonder of such experances as long as we arn't hurting the animal.

dogmush · « **Reply #17 on:** October 03, 2012, 06:40:51 PM »

Quote from: bluestarlizzard on October 03, 2012, 06:31:54 PM

There arn't many wild animals that people can interact with in the animals habitat. Seems stupid to bar ourselfs from the wonder of such experances as long as we arn't hurting the animal.

That's what Tim Treadwell said.

*Actually, BSL I agree with you (and Tim) that snark was just to good to pass up.

bedlamite · « **Reply #18 on:** October 03, 2012, 06:50:46 PM »

Quote from: BobR on October 03, 2012, 12:12:40 PM

That it could.

I used to tell all of the people who used to tell me dolphins were kind and gentle, and had even saved people from drowning, that that is only because you only heard about those few they brought back. You never heard about the people they took out to sea to play with, got bored with, and left them there to drown.

bob

That's closer to the truth than most would like to admit.

Declaration Day · « **Reply #19 on:** October 03, 2012, 07:12:49 PM »

Possibly NSFW.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjitsh0re3o&feature=player_embedded

HForrest · « **Reply #20 on:** October 03, 2012, 07:42:52 PM »

Quote

Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri held a news conference to decry the alleged abuse of an animal he called "a huge part of our culture here in Florida" and "a very integral part of what Florida is about."

At the gathering of reporters and news cameramen, slightly surreal in its gravity, Gualtieri said he hoped photographs a bystander snapped of the mysterious manatee rider will identify the woman and bring her to justice.

"Go ride a Jet Ski. Don't use animals," the sheriff said. "She needs to be held accountable for her actions."

I wonder how many armed robberies, rapes, and homicides there were in the same region and time frame as the manatee abuse, that didn't get their own news conferences.

Boomhauer · « **Reply #21 on:** October 03, 2012, 08:07:20 PM »

Quote from: bedlamite on October 03, 2012, 08:25:11 AM

Is that like jumping the shark?

That's a higher fine.

BlueStarLizzard · « **Reply #22 on:** October 03, 2012, 08:13:47 PM »

Quote from: dogmush on October 03, 2012, 06:40:51 PM

That's what Tim Treadwell said.

*Actually, BSL I agree with you (and Tim) that snark was just to good to pass up.

Far be it for me to deny someone a moment of snark.

Stay snarky, my friend.

LadySmith · « **Reply #23 on:** October 03, 2012, 09:04:47 PM »

She turned herself in saying she didn't know it was wrong.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/03/14200029-woman-rides-wild-manatee-in-florida-turns-herself-in?lite

Tallpine · « **Reply #24 on:** October 03, 2012, 09:18:14 PM »

Save a Horse
Ride a Manatee

News:

Author Topic: "It's all fun and games" or "Oh! the huge Manatee" (Read 5206 times)