In the Eye of the Beholder: Changing Social Perceptions of the Florida Manatee

Theresa L. Goedeke

ABSTRACT
Bangs (1895), a biologist with the Museum of Comparative Biology at Harvard University, lamented the rarity of manatees in Florida in the late 1800s. He blamed their scarceness on over-harvest, as well as increasing settlement and development in Florida. Bangs worried that "reduced to a mere remnant…it takes but small change in its surroundings to wipe it forever from the face of the earth" (p. 782). Although early naturalists like Bangs were concerned about Florida manatees early in American history, ignorance about their existence and habits in large part prevailed. Consequently, the species was the object of casual slaughter, despite passage of a state law prohibiting harvest in 1893 and subjecting those who feared or despised the manatee to harassment and torture.

In the twentieth century, progressively, more scientists began to investigate the manatee’s life history and, consequently, gained considerable knowledge about the nonhuman animal. People interested in the welfare of manatees then used this knowledge to raise awareness about them. As the public learned about manatees, the species became very popular, and legislators began to pass more laws to protect them from extinction. Thus, the species went from inspiring acts of cruelty to inspiring dedication and admiration among scientists, policymakers, and the interested public. In the following discussion, I explore how the perception of Florida manatees changed over time and consider how this affected support for their protection.

Research Methods

To explore the evolution of human understanding about manatees in the United States, I conducted a content analysis of the scientific and other literature published on the manatee. Documents in my sample were sorted by publication date. I did an initial reading and coarse coding of each publication in chronological order, beginning in the 1800s. When coding, I looked for emerging themes in the data. I then refined the analysis for each document using a coding template created in Microsoft Word for Windows. Later, I imported the data, codes, and applicable article text into ATLAS.ti. Using this qualitative data analysis package I further refined the analysis by assigning, broadening, or collapsing code categories. I created families of codes and records (called documents in ATLAS.ti) to analyze the data by time periods and by code.

To understand the policy responses to growing knowledge about the species, I analyzed legal and policy sources related to protection laws. I reviewed available materials, including documents, transcripts, and audio recording, for a number of applicable state and federal laws. I worked through these sources chronologically so that I could learn how the laws evolved. These materials were coded and analyzed manually.

Finally, I conducted thirty-five personal interviews with persons involved in the creation of science and/or law regarding the Florida manatee. These semi-structured interviews covered a range of issues relating to manatee science and protection. I transcribed the interviews and used ATLAS.ti to organize and analyze the data.

Social Perception and Animals

Humans throughout history have liked some species, loathed others and--for a great number of creatures--thought nothing about them at all. These responses shape, and are shaped, by existing knowledge about a species and dominant social perceptions about the character and value of the species. Once knowledge, which could be experiential, folk, or scientific is gained about a species, people then label or categorize the species. This, in turn, further defines the cultural relationship with the animal that influences how people treat the animal, both as an aggregate and on an individual basis (Rajecki, Rasmussen, & Craft, 1993).

Predators such as coyotes have been vilified because they threaten the "agro-industrial and sport hunting potentials of the Western Landscape" (Sandlos, 1998, p. 45). The same can be said for wolves and even, historically, raptors (Dunlap, 1988; Rawson, 2001). These views led to predator extermination policies, some of which persist, and often, as Sandlos reports, to the torture of individual animals. There are hosts of species who engender similar social responses, from prairie dogs (Reading, Mille,r & Kellert, 1999) to snakes (Herzog & Burghart 1998).

Other species are liked and valued because they are economically useful, which means that they can be converted into products or services for human consumption. This includes domesticated animals like livestock and the so-called natural resources, including "exotic" livestock and "game species." Salmon are a nice example. Scarce (2000) argues that the dominant social values governing human interactions with salmon are economic and political. These values influence how the fish is perceived in the dominant culture, namely as a product to be produced, manipulated, and improved. Thus, the economic or use value of a species shapes how the species is understood and described, or labeled.

There are many species, however, that people favor, despite having lost or never attained importance as a commodity. Companion animals, although often bought and sold, are valued socially because of the affection they offer or for the status that they confer to their people (Sanders, 1999; Stammbach & Turner, 1999). Wildlife also is esteemed for non-economic reasons. Native peoples embrace certain species for their spiritual or cultural importance (Lawrence, 1993). Non-native people too develop attachments to species or individual animals who symbolize community and tradition or who are emblematic of place (Proctor, 1998; Rikoon & Albee, 1998).

The cultural relationships people forge with animals and the social meanings attached to particular creatures are mediated by an array of factors. Social scientists have made efforts to determine why people prefer certain species and what variables influence perceptions of various animals. Kellert (1979, 1980) provides a number of factors that influence public attitudes toward animals: aesthetics, cultural and historical importance, economic value, and level of public knowledge. Finding that the popularity of a particular species depends on perceptions about the usefulness, intelligence and loveable qualities of the species, Driscoll (1995) confirms many of these factors.

People are more likely to value species that are attractive, seemingly similar to humans, and perceived as thoughtful with a capacity to feel pain (Kellert, 1985a). Although large mammals, termed "charismatic megafauna," are the most preferred by the American public (Czech & Krausman, 2001; Coursey, 2001; Driscoll, 1995), even a small animal can garner political clout if people believe that the creature boasts "apparent ecological importance and rarity" (Czech & Krausman, p. 62). It also is highly advantageous if the species does not have the ability to eat, bite, sting, spread disease, or otherwise inflict harm on humans or their domestic animals (Driscoll, 1995; Kellert, 1980, 1985b).

Finally, in regard to endangered species, public support is greater if the animal's endangerment results from direct human activities such as overexploitation or persecution (Kellert, 1979). Support is less forthcoming for species affected by more nebulous, indirect pressures such as habitat fragmentation or pollution.

In summary, the literature suggests that organisms evoking positive emotive responses, whether such emotions arise from feelings of guilt, familiarity, or sympathy, will fare better in publicly supported protection efforts than species that inspire disconnecting emotions such as jealously, fear, or disgust. Similarly, socially valued species, whether that value stems from economic or cultural interests, will enjoy more support than creatures who are disliked or disregarded. Consequently, we expect that as a society's value and affection for an animal increases--related to acquisition of knowledge--so too does public willingness to support protection. In the remainder of the paper, I explain how the perception of the manatee improved over time and consider how these changes positively influenced support for protection efforts.


Fear, Sport, and Hunger in Florida

The Florida manatees had value solely as a game species at the turn of the last century. As a result, as with many species in the New World, they were relentlessly pursued. Naturalists then declared the species rare; in 1893, a state law was passed to protect them. Speaking about manatees, Fairchild (1917) wrote that "[t]ourists have always had an inane desire to shoot the entirely helpless animals "(p. 344) and argued that the law was helpful. However, people continued to kill manatees long after the state banned harvest. Game status lost, the species then became invisible to the game management agencies within the State of Florida. Thus, the harvest ban was of dubious value.

Moore, a biologist for the Everglades National Park and the nation's first manatee expert, declared that harvest, primarily for meat among commercial fishers, remained the most serious hurdle to the animal's recovery. He reported seeing people shoot and harpoon manatees for amusement and argued, "the scarceness of this mammal in Florida Bay… is attributable to the ruthless hunting of it for food by local people" (Moore, 1951a, 1951b, p. 23). Although records no longer exist to verify the level of harvest and poaching pressure in the early 1900s, a number of my informants indicated that it was greatest during the Great Depression.
Manatees became rare and, perhaps consequently, were not widely understood by the public, many of whom were immigrants to Florida. This ignorance led to much ambivalence and even animosity toward the animals. According to Reynolds (1976), a research scientist whose dissertation research focused on Florida manatees, local myths negatively affected early perceptions of the creatures. One myth was that manatees consumed large quantities of fish leaving few for anglers and, another, that they would lunge out of the water on purpose to bite a person. Reynolds concluded, "It is obvious that these animals are, as yet, poorly understood. Lamentably, they are hurt by this lack of understanding" (p. 214). The result of such beliefs was a general disregard for their welfare and, at worse, malicious harassment and vandalism, that is, purposely injuring manatees for amusement.
Other characteristics of the manatee, grounded more in observable facts, served to make the animals unpopular with people who were more familiar with them. Moore (1951a, p. 10), recorded complaints from Florida boaters who, "…found them to be somewhat of a nuisance in navigation." Similarly, Hartman (1971, p. 236), who completed the seminal work on the behavior and ecology of manatees in Crystal River, Florida, reported accounts from fishermen disgruntled about "breaking propellers on the backs of manatees." Hartman (1969) also described the frustration of anglers who disliked manatees who habitually rubbed on traps, embedding them into the muddy substrate. These negative associations did little to endear manatees to the public, and some people lashed out at them.

During his research on manatees at Crystal River, Florida, Hartman (1971, p. 236) observed idle anglers trying to "hook animals intentionally and 'play' them for sport." Even after lawmakers strengthened federal protection with the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 and the Endangered Species Act of 1973, Wray (1976, p. 14), Center for Action on Endangered Species, reported that the injurious offenses against manatees continued:

Manatees are molested regularly in Florida. Cement blocks have been dropped on their heads in the Miami Canals, one was seen with a garden rake embedded in its back, their eyes are poked out, and they are shot at by children and adults apparently for "sport" or target practice. During 1975, several shooting incidents were reported, but apprehending violators is difficult.
Campbell (1976, p. 19), a research biologist, wrote that the main culprits behind attacks on manatees were children who were "unaware of the laws and consequences of their actions." Thus, when knowledge about the Florida manatees and their behaviors was scant and little publicized, the species experienced "persecution" from humans (Moore, 1951b).

Educating Others about Manatees

Hartman's (1969) groundbreaking work on manatee behavior resonated with a nation and Congress growing more sympathetic toward marine mammals and endangered species in the 1970s. Hartman testified before the House of Representatives that the Florida manatee was at risk and needed protection against non-natural mortality, especially that associated with boats and pollution (U. S. Congress, 1971). Scientists and policymakers of the late 1970s argued that people did not know enough about manatees and that education would be the most effective tool to save the marine mammal.
State Senator Wilson (Florida Congress, 1977), who sponsored the Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act (FMSA) of 1978, cited ignorance of manatees as an important problem:
People who either accidentally hit them in a boat or just simply aren't aware that these are very harmless creatures and very helpful to our habitat in the State of Florida. In addition to that we have a lot of young people in the State that have very little awareness of this creature and we've had incidents in Brevard County, which is one of the highly concentrated areas of manatee, where kids in little motorboats or with rowboats will go and take a paddle and beat it over the head and things of this nature.
The state's policy focus at this time was to curb the unintentional killing of the harmless, helpful creatures by unsuspecting boaters and ignorant youth. This would be done primarily through educational outreach. The FMSA also named the manatees the "State Marine Mammal" and afforded them legal protection while wintering at a number of warm water sites.

Many of the educational efforts came from non-government organizations, primarily the Save the Manatee Club (STMC). STMC got its start in the early 1980s through the initiative of Jimmy Buffet, the singer-song writer, and then Governor Bob Graham. Graham, who grew up in Florida, became interested in creating an organization to protect manatees because he had developed an affinity for them during his youth: "I liked them because they were playful, with lots of human characteristics. They were similar to cows and I lived on a dairy farm, so this attracted me to manatees also" (B. Graham, personal communication, December 12, 2001).
The director of STMC since 1985, who started as a volunteer doing public education programs and became a manatee advocate after seeing manatees routinely rundown by boaters in the waterway behind her home, explained the organization's goal:
…[T]he story I’ve heard is the State actually did a public poll about the public perception of what manatees were and I think the majority of people thought in Florida that the manatees were insects. So, what happened was in response to that in 1981 Jimmy Buffet, the singer-song writer, he’s the co-founder and he’s still the co-chair of board of directors, got together with then Governor Bob Graham of the state and they said, "well, we’ve got to raise the awareness. (J. Vallee, personal communication, October 2, 2001)

Vallee's assessment of early public awareness about manatees is substantiated by Kellert's (1980) findings from a national survey, "The American public, as a whole, was characterized by extremely limited knowledge of animals.…[O]nly 26 percent responded correctly to the statement, 'The manatee is an insect'" (p. 115).
The STMC did its part to increase awareness by sponsoring scientific research on manatees--which generated new knowledge--and by initiating educational programs to disseminate information among the public and policymakers. The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Florida Power and Light Corporation also undertook activities to inform the public about manatees.
Changing Impressions, Reinventing the Manatee
The STMC and other manatee supporters worked to replace ignorance and negative impressions of manatees with knowledge and sympathy. These efforts appeared to pay off as the manatee's image underwent a transformation; perceptions of the animal shifted dramatically in a matter of just two decades.

New Images, New Adjectives

Early literature published about manatees often described them as ugly and grotesque. Sikes (1974, p. 466), in an article reporting on a collection expedition for manatees in Africa, described manatees as "a cross between a dirty barrage balloon and a gray maggot." This type of description, of course, does not inspire the kind of imagery necessary to elicit support based on aesthetics. The general sentiment among authors writing about manatees--when the manatee was just becoming known to the public--was that the creature was hideously ugly possessing "a face only a mother could love" (O'Keefe 1982, p. 7).

Manatees became more likeable as scientists completed additional research. After compiling data on the manatee's feeding behaviors, advocates easily countered claims that manatees competed with people for fish. In fact, manatees were herbivores, or "vegetarians," and ill-adapted to either catch or consume animal prey. Manatees also increasingly became known as "social" animals. One of the first veterinarians to participate in manatee rescue and rehabilitation, described his change of heart about manatees:
I always thought manatees were just sitting there and doing nothing. I mean, they’re like slugs, not thrilling. And found out that they, when the water’s warm and when they’re in colonies, they have quite a number of behaviors. You know they get excited about things and have quite a bit of colony interaction. (P. T. Cardeilhac, personal communication, October 15, 2001)
New images of manatees as "social vegetarians" rippled outward into the public eye. As manatees became harmless and endangered, they less often were called grotesque and ugly. More often, they were characterized with terms that just as easily could have described cows or puppies: shy, placid, docile, inoffensive, gentle, curious, intelligent, social, friendly, and peace-loving. By the late 1980s, manatees more frequently were described using pleasing analogies, such as by a journalist who wrote, "With an air of innocence and a body that looks as pudgy and cuddly as a human baby's it is a charismatic creature" (Rattner, 1995, p. 28). This is consistent with Gunnthorsdottir's (2001, p. 211) finding "that the framing of a very unattractive animal as endangered can lead to a reduction in repulsiveness." The days of likening manatees to ticks, cigars, or maggots were largely over.

The Siren of Economy

One reason often given for protecting biodiversity is the current or potential economic value of a plant or animal. Bertram and Bertram (1964) justified protection of manatees by emphasizing their potential uses. Of course, the manatee was valuable in pre-colonial and colonial times as a source of food, leather, and oil. However, manatees lost their value as game in the United States as the population declined, and laws were passed to protect them.

The 1960s brought dreams of hungry manatees munching their way across the globe, employed in the chore of controlling invasive aquatic plants (Allsopp 1960, 1961). There also were calls to domesticate manatees and to raise them for slaughter in manatee ranches (Fairchild, 1917). Both ideas proved unrealistic because of the manatee's slow reproductive rates and climatic requirements, especially for subtropical areas like Florida, where manatees are susceptible to cold exposure (Stephens, 1972; Wray, 1978). The manatee, however, still had untapped economic value.

Behavioral research completed on manatees dispelled fears about attacks on people. It became widely known that manatees actually had no defense mechanisms at all, aside from flight. Thus, manatees became "harmless" and popular reports of their amiability and descriptions of their social nature (Hartman, 1969; Janson, 1980) eventually rendered them a tourist attraction. Journalists enthusiastically recommended intentional encounters with manatees in diving and tourism publications (Stewart, 1976; Blount, 1980; Wolfe, 1980).

Ecotourism gradually grew up around manatees in some parts of Florida. Areas such as Crystal River, where free-roaming manatees aggregated in the wintertime, became meccas to people who wanted to dive into the springs to get an up close and personal look. Shackley (1992) reported that in 1988 some $4.5 million net tourism sales tax was paid in Citrus County alone, the county encompassing Crystal River. Those interested in the tourism dollar also facilitated manatee watching from boats or on the shore, such as in the Blue Springs State Park.

Although some people flocked to see manatees in the wild, others were content to view them in artificial pools. Injured manatees gained celebrity status at zoos and commercial oceanaria, where they underwent rehabilitation. Shackley (1992) noted that an estimated 200,000 tourists visited the small, state-owned Homosassa Springs zoo facility to see manatees. Although the economic value of manatees as steaks or weed clearance workers was lost, they regained much of it through ecotourism and within the zoological entertainment industry.

The Manatee's Niche

The Florida manatee also possessed two added qualities that translated into a good deal of public support: rarity and unique ecological role. The Florida manatee's endangered status became legal on the federal level in 1967 after inclusion on the first official endangered species list; later, the manatee was listed as endangered on the state level as well. This rarity made calls for protection more urgent. A lobbyist employed by the American Wildlife Trust, emphasized the manatee's status when talking about the problem of boat injuries: "And when you’re talking about the manatee, you’re talking about how critically endangered this species really is" (S. Lindberg, personal communication, October 2, 2001). The manatee's endangered status alarmed those who supported it and made the need for protection indisputable.

In addition to being rare, the Florida manatee also is singular from an ecological standpoint. According to a manatee biologist "…they’re very unique physiologically, anatomically, [and] biologically" (C. Beck, personal communication, October 16, 2001). A marine mammal biologist on the staff of Sea World of Florida, explained their unique ecological value: "They are spreading fertilizer. They’re keeping the sea grasses in a very dynamic state of growth, rather than an old growth type of thing. So, there’s definitely a function" D. Odell (personal communication, September 29, 2001). The only large-scale, aquatic herbivore of its kind in the United States made the manatee worthy of strong public support and prioritized policy attention.

The species' ecological uniqueness and importance as an umbrella species were united, which meant that were the manatee protected then a plethora of other species and systems would be protected by default. A park ranger who faithfully tracks manatees wintering at the Blue Springs State Park, explained, "It’s such a big animal [and] when you preserve a big animal it automatically preserves lots of little animals in the same environment that don’t need that much space” (W. Hartley, personal communication, September 9, 2001). Similarly, the first and most active manatee program coordinator on either the state or federal levels, indicated that "to protect manatees and their habitat you are essentially going to preserve the fishing and best ecological balance, species diversity, and all those things together in those habitats" (P. M. Rose, personal communication, October 18, 2001).

Finally, the manatee also came to be defined as an important indicator species: "The manatee is a sign of the health and integrity of the Florida ecosystems on which it depends" (Rose, 1985, p. 592). Similarly, the executive vice-president of the Florida Audubon Society, commented, "The manatee is an indicator of the pressures that we’re putting on the marine environment due to the introduction of anthropogenic influences" (C. Lee, October 2, 2001). In this view, the status of the manatee serves as a litmus test for the overall health of the aquatic systems in which the manatee lives.

People Protecting the Manatee

Factual knowledge about manatees increased, and people began to overlook their homely appearance and focus on those qualities that made them valuable and irreplaceable. The manatee's social value increased as they became more likeable, profitable, and environmentally beneficial. Naturally, perceptions of manatee changed along with this positive valuation. The manatee was no longer despised or forgotten but admitted to the league of species considered "our" kind of animals, those animals gaining entry into "human networks and value systems" as being important and special (Rajecki, Rasmussen, & Craft, 1993). Not surprisingly, there was much support for legal protection for, and recovery of, manatees. A young STMC lobbyist, explained,
in the 1980s you started having a lot of public education and a lot more public knowledge of manatees. Boaters started to get it [and] began to become educated. And then in the late 80s we started getting some good laws put in place for manatees. (G. Karness, personal communication, September 25, 2001)
With positive publicity, not to love the species manatee was difficult. The U. S. Fish and Wildlife field director, Region 4, when talking about why the manatee recovery program became so important to the Florida public, explained:
They’re just very popular. They’re perceived as being very gentle. They are so ugly they’re cute. They’re fairly slow moving, so they are a lot easier to see than whales. They’re very docile creatures. Over at Crystal River you have a lot of people who like to swim in close proximity to them. And if you’ve ever been in the water with a manatee, then you’re a manatee advocate for life. (D. Hankla, personal communication, September 21, 2001)

Indeed, according to a public opinion survey conducted by researchers at Florida State University, 94 % of Florida residents surveyed--including registered boaters--responded that manatee protection laws were either very important (67%) or somewhat important (27%) (Parker & Wang, 1996). By the 1990s, the public was funding the manatee protection program directly through the purchase of manatee license plates for automobiles and boat registration decals. The state raised unprecedented amounts of revenue to save manatees in Florida.

The success of the STMCs "adoption" program also is indicative of the immense popularity of manatees. Members of the public signed up in droves to sponsor monetarily individual manatees like "Ragtail" or "Howie." The public, attached to individual animals, mourned their deaths and injuries. Newspapers reported on the circumstances surrounding the deaths of individual animals and chronicled the recovery of those who survived injuries from boats (Brockman, 1986; O'Driscoll, 1985). Not surprisingly, people began to express displeasure about the manatee's endangerment and complained in particular about watercraft collisions.
Ironically, that humans were the manatee's only significant enemy likely benefited them by engendering additional sympathy. The plight of the manatee was entirely the fault of humans--first by harvest and poaching--later, as a byproduct of the Florida lifestyle:
The major menace to the survival of the Florida manatee… is human affluence, expressed through the proliferation of recreational water craft, marinas, coastal retirement communities, and the introduction of polluting chemicals either as pesticides (particularly herbicides) or effluents of a conspicuously consuming society. (Anderson & Birtles, 1978, p. 21)

In other words, Florida's state marine mammal no longer was endangered because starving people poached. The manatee was endangered because Americans cherished an economy predicated on perpetual growth and development and a lifestyle marked by the pursuit of leisure.

Unable to be blamed for depressing fish stocks or eating swimmers, the manatee became the embodiment of everything gentle and beautiful in Florida waters, a symbol the public was determined to preserve. Not surprisingly, as the 1990s progressed, more and more regulations were passed to protect Florida manatees from boat collisions throughout the state.

Summary and Conclusions

Negative perceptions of animals or apathy about their existence have contributed historically to the decimation or near decimation of species. Fortunately, it appears that species can be socially and culturally reinvented, improving their chances of protection. The manatee benefited from just such a process, going from ugly monster to charismatic, gentle giant worthy of being saved.

In the United States, there are a few cases in which species have been redefined, with such changes often being attributable to the popularization of ecological ideas. Wolves, once seen exclusively as vermin, now are viewed also as a species with ecological value (Dunlap, 1988). The federal government exerted itself to save the wolf, an endangered species it once sought to exterminate. Similarly, American bison, slaughtered to near extinction in an effort to destroy native peoples, later were recovered as symbols of America (Lott, 2002).

The Florida manatee underwent a similar transformation. As a game species, the manatee lost value when the manatee population was reduced. Being rare, manatees largely were unknown and overlooked, except by those who risked fines to poach them. People misunderstood and feared them, which resulted in continued persecution. Significant steps toward protection of the manatee came only after the scientific community renewed its interest in the animal as an endangered species and after advocates worked fervently to project a new image for the animal.

Over time, the public and policymakers learned that manatees always were harmless, often friendly, and did not compete with people for natural resources. The perception of manatees improved significantly and they soon became the kind of animal to whom the public could throw their support. The manatee was rare and unique, aesthetically pleasing, economically valuable, and ecologically important. As the people grew to know the manatee, perceptions about the animal's character and value improved tremendously. The outcome of this transformation was significant support for the ongoing protection of manatees. Manatee advocates and members of the public demanded strong protection for the marine mammals and voluntarily paid for protection programs.

* Theresa L. Goedeke, Florida A & M University

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