Manatees in Florida’s waters are dying at a record rate, causing concern that the state’s small population of the marine mammals may be in trouble. One hundred manatees died in the first three months of this year, including 32 killed by powerboats, compared with 80 total deaths during the same period in 1999. In other sad sea creature news, shark populations around the world are in dramatic decline because of overfishing, pollution, and the practice of finning, in which fins are sliced off sharks to be used in soups in the Far East and the rest of the shark carcasses are tossed back in the ocean. Reps. Jim Saxton (R-N.J.) and Randy Cunningham (R-Calif.) have introduced a bill that would ban shark finning in all U.S. waters.
