when did manatees become endangered?

Answer 1

Manatees were placed under protection when the Marine Mammal Protection Act passed through Congress in 1972. Power boats were not the only cause of the decline in the numbers of manatees, consider the following....

Florida was mostly unpopulated until the 1940's, and even then, grocery stores were few and far between. If you had to hunt to put food on the table, the animal with the most meat in this state is.... guess what it is......

The manatee. They can weigh up to 3000 lbs, and according to the old timers (very few and far between, nowadays) taste better than steak. Manattes were also on the menu for many, if not all of the native tribes here in Florida before Europeans came to the "new world". Combine lower numbers from overhunting with the advent of powerboats and depletion of pristine habitat (more runoff from populated areas and all the things that runoff brings, kills seagrass beds, and seagrass is all manatees eat....) and you end up with highly depleted numbers. Depleted to the point that some groups (like Citizens for Florida's Waterways) say that manatees aren't even native to Florida, despite the fact that the fossil record shows manatees here before there were people. "We never saw manatees when I was growing up." is something I hear from time to time... and I think, "Well, isn't it nice that you can see them now?" and there's always my favorite... "Manatees aren't endangered, we see them every day." Well, buddy, 80% of the manatees in Florida either live in the Indian River Lagoon or pass through on their migration routes.

Answer 2

In the 1920's.

Answer 3

When the inconsiderate power boaters in Florida killed off most of them... about 1988 or so.