Steve Irwin, Bycatch, and Manatees

A little bit of housecleaning here at Shifting Baselines. First, Sea Shepherd, the anti-whalers preparing for their campaign against Japanese whalers right now in Australia, have named one of their two boats after Steve Irwin, the deceased Crocodile Hunter. Over at Grist, Erik Hoffner has a nice post (and photos!) on fisheries bycatch that mentions a study from the Sea Around Us Project's Dirk Zeller and Daniel Pauly.

Finally, our dear friend the manatee has a delayed fate. They are still safely on Florida's state endangered species list (for now), where they have been since 1979. The 2007 census recorded nearly 3000 manatees in Florida waters, up from 1,300 in the first survey, in 1991. Because the legislation seemed to be working, some Floridians thought it best to try to overturn it. Officials were to have voted on reclassification in September, but Gov. Charlie Crist requested a postponement to let new commissioners study the question. May the manatee float in peace until the vote and, when it finally comes, may they be spared delisting (and relaxed regulations on boating speeds). In their honor, I again post the exploding heart video...