When wilderness photographer Michael Patrick O'Neill and his brother Joe went swimming in Crystal River, Florida, USA, they saw a scene that shocked them, a manatee about 3 years old, with 4 clear scars on its weak body.
O'Neill said: "This face is really heart-wrenching. It is only 3 years old, the average life expectancy of a manatee is 50-60 years, there is such a large mark on the body, the length and depth of the wound are clearly visible to the human eye, you can imagine how serious the injury of this manatee is. ”
Jenna Golden, coordinator of the Science Outreach Campaign for Save Manatee Club, said: "This injury to manatees is very common. This is all caused by the ship's propeller. This is a very serious problem in the waters of Florida. ”
"Manatees are docile mammals that move very slowly, and they are likely just trying to get out of the water around the boat for ventilation and are easily injured by the rapidly spinning propellers. Many manatees have varying degrees of damage on their bodies and tails. ”
"This is a manatee that the manatee rescue organization once rescued, 1/3 of its tail has been knocked off by the spiral pulp, it was named 'tailless', it is a very lucky manatee, because under medical assistance, it can survive, if it is left in the sea after injury, perhaps it is now dead." ”
"It's not uncommon to be injured by a ship's spiral slurry, and even though the U.S. government has issued regulations that limit the speed of ships on the waterway, it's not enough."
"Manatees are very dull in hearing, and they can distinguish high-frequency sounds. But for the low-frequency sound of the ship's engines, they simply cannot be prejudged. A manatee 3-4 meters long cannot accurately identify the location of the ship at a distance of 15 meters, which is also an important reason why they are injured by the boat. ”
"For manatees, the effects of being injured by the spiral pulp are entirely by luck. Some manatees have shallow wounds, they live in the waters on their own and allow the wounds to survive, but this is a minority, many manatees have deep wounds that hurt their internal organs, and even some manatees die on the spot after encountering the propeller damage of the ship. ”
"If a mother manatee is seriously injured, there is also a baby manatee implicated. Because babies usually depend on their mother's milk to survive, they simply cannot live alone. What's more, what if the ship's propeller hits a baby manatee? ”
"So, when people are proud to drive boats on the surface of the sea, blowing the sea breeze, and enjoying themselves, it is likely that your boat has caused irreversible damage to the underwater manatees."
"In all of 2016, the number of manatees killed by boat injuries reached 1,066, but this number is very conservative, and the actual number is much higher than this number," Golden said. ”
"In addition, the increasing pollution has led to red tides in many waters, and these poisonous seaweeds are eaten by manatees whose main food is seaweed and seaweed, which will cause disease and death."
With 6,620 manatees in Florida waters, the government has adjusted the manatees from endangered to vulnerable, Golden said: "This practice is very dangerous, now is not the time to celebrate, because the ships are increasing, the emphasis is decreasing, we can't completely accurately count the number of manatees, so we can't take it lightly, is it necessary to wait until this legendary mermaid can only be seen in books, and then focus on protecting them?" ”