Download or read book Manatee Insanity written by Craig Pittman and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 2010-05-09 with total page 643 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The quiet manatee has long been a flash point of frequent environmental debates. It is Florida's most famous endangered species, as well as its most controversial. Manatees appear on hundreds of license plates, attract hordes of tourists, and expose the uneasy relationships between science and the law and between freedom and responsibility like no other animal. As passions have flared and resentments have grown, the battle over manatee protection has evolved into a war, and no reporter has followed the story more closely than Craig Pittman, the first environmental writer to explore the complex history, culture, and science of the controversies and concerns surrounding this remarkable creature. With an abiding interest in the uncertain fate of this unique species, Manatee Insanity provides the first in-depth history of the attempts to provide legal protection for the manatee. Pittman follows Florida’s gentle giants through time and space, detailing interactions with a variety of human actors, from Jacques-Yves Cousteau to Jeb Bush to Jimmy Buffett, from a popular children's book author to a federal lawman who dressed in a gorilla suit for the ultimate undercover assignment.
Download or read book The Florida Manatee written by Roger L. Reep and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 2021-04-14 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From two scientists who have been at the forefront of manatee research for over three decades, The Florida Manatee offers an engaging, accessible introduction to manatee biology, including communication, diet, long-distance migration, and much more. This second edition is updated with new scientific research, as well as discussions of recent conservation efforts—largely driven by manatee injuries and deaths resulting from boat collisions—that have contributed to the robust growth of manatee numbers in Florida. It also includes the latest predictions for manatee populations and health in the future, both in Florida and worldwide. This is the perfect book for anyone seeking the most comprehensive, current information on this fascinating marine mammal.
Download or read book Oh Florida written by Craig Pittman and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2016-07-05 with total page 413 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fun- and fact-filled investigation into why the Sunshine State is the weirdest but also the most influential state in the Union.
Download or read book Paving Paradise written by Craig Pittman and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 2010-05-25 with total page 499 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Florida possesses more wetlands than any other state except Alaska, yet since 1990 more than 84,000 acres have been lost to development despite presidential pledges to protect them. How and why the state's wetlands are continuing to disappear is the subject of Paving Paradise. Journalists Craig Pittman and Matthew Waite spent nearly four years investigating the political expedience, corruption, and negligence on the part of federal and state agencies that led to a failure to enforce regulations on developers. They traveled throughout the state, interviewed hundreds of people, dug through thousands of documents, and analyzed satellite imagery to identify former wetlands that were now houses, stores, and parking lots. Exposing the unseen environmental consequences of rampant sprawl, Pittman and Waite explain how wetland protection creates the illusion of environmental protection while doing little to stem the tide of destruction.
Download or read book Secrets of the Manatee written by Diane Morgan and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2023-04-01 with total page 137 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Secrets of the Manatee offers a fascinating look at Florida’s most mysterious marine creature. Floating just below the surface of the water, manatees have remained largely unknown and misunderstood by humans. Now, their very survival depends on a delicate balance between human interference and conservation. This book is written for people who care about manatees, who want to learn about them, and, ultimately, who want to save them. This book explores the evolutionary history and fascinating biology of the manatee, asking questions such as, why do they have solid bones and marching molars? Big tummies but no blubber? Lots of friends and no enemies? And other queries like, are manatees invasive? Do they speak or squeak? Why do they have whiskers? Are they dangerous? How can we help them thrive again? This book answers these—and many more—questions about this very special mammal.
Download or read book Cat Tale written by Craig Pittman and published by Harlequin. This book was released on 2020-01-21 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Garden & Gun Best Book of 2020 “Witty and passionate.” —Lauren Groff “Craig Pittman has a remarkable talent for telling stories set in the Sunshine State that never fail to fascinate and entertain.”—Gilbert King “The definitive book on one of America’s least understood apex predators. The story of how Florida’s panthers were saved from extinction is one that both deserves and needs to be told.” —Dane Huckelbridge The captivating tale of the Florida panther, its survival and rescue from extinction With novelistic detail and an eye for the absurd, Craig Pittman recounts the extraordinary story of the people who brought the panther back from the brink of extinction, the ones who nearly pushed the species over the edge, and the cats that were caught in the middle. This being Florida, there's more than a little weirdness, too. An engrossing narrative of wry humor, sharp writing and exhaustive reportage, Cat Tale shows what it takes to bring one species back and what unexpected costs such a decision brings.
Download or read book The State You re In written by Craig Pittman and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 2021-08-09 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jump into the wacky, wild world of Florida For more than 30 years, investigative journalist and New York Times bestselling author Craig Pittman has chronicled the wildest stories Florida has to offer. Featuring a selection of columns that have appeared in the Tampa Bay Times and other outlets throughout Pittman’s career, this book highlights just how strange and wonderful Florida can be. With a folksy style, an eye for the absurd, and a passion for the history and environment of his home state, Pittman describes some of Florida’s oddest wildlife as well as its quirkiest people. The State You’re In includes a love story involving the most tattooed woman in the world, a deep dive into the state’s professional mermaid industry, and an investigation of a battle between residents of a nudist resort and the U.S. Postal Service. Pittman introduces readers to a who’s who of Florida crime fiction, a what’s what of exotic animals, and an array of beloved places he’s seen change rapidly in his lifetime. Many of these stories are funny, some are serious, and several offer rare insights into the heart of the Sunshine State. For Pittman, Florida is both inspiring and dangerous—an “evolutionary test” for those who live in it. Together these pieces paint a complex picture of a fascinating state longing for an identity beyond palm trees and punchlines.
Download or read book Florida Manatees written by John Elliott Reynolds and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2017-04-25 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A photographic journey into the secret world of Florida’s beloved manatee. Winner of the CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title of the Choice ACRL Manatees, the gentle giants of Florida's lagoons and coastal habitats, can bring a smile to the face of anybody lucky enough to spy one. As manatees dip and roll through the water, crowds gather to watch them feed on aquatic vegetation. Whether they are congregating by the hundreds or resting or feeding alone, viewing these sea cows can provide anyone interested in nature with hours of tranquil pleasure. Having survived for eons, today's manatees are now under constant threat due to our rapidly swelling human population. Their habitats are often devastated by development and pollution. The slow-moving manatees also live at the mercy of chance, for they occupy waters filled with fast-moving boats powered by razor-sharp propellers—a new form of predator from which they have no protection. Boat speed limits have been put in place to protect manatees, but there is a constant push to lift them so that people can once again zip across the waters that manatees call home. For this reason, manatees are often a subject of controversy that pits their lives against the rights of boat owners. In this book, manatee expert John E. Reynolds III and famed photographer Wayne Lynch join forces to reveal the clearest portrait of manatees ever published. Florida Manatees is a song for the manatee, a celebration of the lives of these majestic creatures. Reynolds's concise, informative text shares what scientists know about manatees, while Lynch's beautiful photographs instantly demonstrate how special these "potatoes with whiskers" really are. By encouraging an appreciation of manatees, the authors hope to help ensure a future in which Floridians can find ways to coexist with and continue to enjoy these uniquely wonderful sirenian inhabitants of their state. Included in this book: How manatees first came to Florida waters How manatees fit into the ecosystems of Florida What and how much manatees eat How manatees behave and communicate with one another Why manatees look the way they do Why manatees have whiskers How manatee mothers feed their young and much more
Download or read book Face to Face with Manatees written by Brian Skerry and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2010 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Introduces readers to tghe life cycle, behaviors, and the natural habitats of manatees living off Florida's southern coast and describes the conservations efforts performed to protect tyhe species.
Download or read book Saving Manatees written by Stephen R. Swinburne and published by Boyds Mills Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An introduction to the slow-moving, water-loving, plant-eating gentle giant called the manatee.
Download or read book Mysterious Manatees written by Karen Glaser and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Mysterious Manatees" is a synergistic partnership between photographer Glaser and writer and scholar Reynolds. This union of science and art makes for a compelling exploration of the manatee through two independent essays--one textual, one visual--in a book addressed to both specialists and a general audience. 52 illustrations.
Download or read book Manatee written by Rei Ohara and published by Chronicle Books. This book was released on 1998-06 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents a collection of color photographs that chronicle the everyday lives of manatees, and includes brief explanatory captions, as well as an essay that provides information about the endangered animals.
Download or read book The Man Who Saved the Whooping Crane written by Kathleen Kaska and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 2012-09-16 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Millions of people know a little bit about efforts to save the whooping crane, thanks to the movie Fly Away Home and annual news stories about ultralight planes leading migratory flocks. But few realize that in the spring of 1941, the population of these magnificent birds--pure white with black wingtips, standing five feet tall with a seven-foot wingspan--had reached an all-time low of fifteen. Written off as a species destined for extinction, the whooping crane has made a slow but unbelievable comeback over the last seven decades. This recovery would have been impossible if not for the efforts of Robert Porter Allen, an ornithologist with the National Audubon Society, whose courageous eight-year crusade to find the only remaining whooping crane nesting site in North America garnered nationwide media coverage. His search and his impassioned lectures about overdevelopment, habitat loss, and unregulated hunting triggered a media blitz that had thousands of citizens on the lookout for the birds during their migratory trips. Allen's tireless efforts changed the course of U.S. environmental history and helped lead to the passage of the Endangered Species Act in 1973. Though few people remember him today, his life reads like an Indiana Jones story, full of danger and adventure, failure and success. His amazing story deserves to be told.
Download or read book The Scent of Scandal written by Craig Pittman and published by Florida History and Culture. This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 2012 Florida Book Awards, Silver Medal for Florida Non-Fiction "FANTASTIC. If I did not know most of the main players I would have thought the author had a vivid and twisted imagination."--Paul Martin Brown, author of Wild Orchids of Florida "A fascinating true story of obsession, greed, and lust for the unobtainable. Reminds me a great deal of The Maltese Falcon. This rare flower is definitely the stuff that dreams are made of."--Ace Atkins, author of Devil's Garden and Infamous "Pittman has captured the extreme competition, unique characters, and general insanity that often typify the orchid world. The Scent of Scandal exemplifies how passion and profit can overrule common sense and the law."--Scott Steward, former associate editor, North American Native Orchid Journal After its Peruvian discovery in 2002, Phragmipedium kovachii became the rarest and most sought-after orchid in the world. Prices soared to $10,000 on the black market. Then one showed up at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, where every year more than 100,000 people visit. They come for the lush landscape on Sarasota Bay and for Selby's vast orchid collection, one of the most magnificent in the world. The collision between Selby's scientists and the smugglers of Phrag. Kovachii, a rare ladyslipper orchid hailed as the most significant and beautiful new species discovered in a century, led to search warrants, a grand jury investigation, and criminal charges. It made headlines around the country, cost the gardens hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations, and led to tremendous internal turmoil. Investigative journalist Craig Pittman unravels this tangled web to shine a spotlight on flaws in the international treaties governing trade in endangered wildlife--which may protect individual plants and animals in shipping but do little to halt the destruction of whole colonies in the wild. The Scent of Scandal unspools like a riveting mystery novel, stranger than anything in Susan Orlean's The Orchid Thief or the film Adaptation. Pittman shows how some people can become so obsessed--with beauty, with profit, with fame--that they will ignore everything, even the law.
Download or read book Ecology and Conservation of the Sirenia written by Helene Marsh and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2011-12 with total page 543 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A synthesis of the ecological and related knowledge pertinent to understanding the biology and conservation of dugongs and manatees.
Download or read book Wild Ocean written by Matt Dembicki and published by Fulcrum Publishing. This book was released on 2014-05-01 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The world's oceans represent the last wild frontier on Earth. In this graphic novel collection, Matt Dembicki, editor and artist of the award-winning Trickster, pulls together stories of twelve iconic endangered sea animals. Produced in cooperation with the non-profit PangeaSeed, these compelling scientific vignettes also educate and foster a passion to conserve the oceans' resources.
Download or read book Roaring Reptiles Bountiful Citrus and Neon Pies written by Mark Lane and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 2019-09-09 with total page 111 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Florida Historical Society Charlton Tebeau Award With an eye for the illogical and a flair for the irreverent, journalist Mark Lane aims his sharp wit at one of the most intriguing duties of the Florida legislature—signing state symbols into law. In Roaring Reptiles, Bountiful Citrus, and Neon Pies, he spotlights nineteen things that have been proposed and/or appointed to officially define Florida. Lane guides readers through the often-comic historical events that led to the selection of Florida’s official fruit, tree, gem, bird, song, and other items ranging from the well known to the obscure, packing in personal stories and laugh-out-loud moments along the way. Did you know the state slogan was almost “the alligator state”? Or that a mailbox in the shape of the state marine mammal can tell you a lot about a person? Readers will also discover that the bill proposing the state soil caused a crisis in the Senate and that the state play—written in the peculiar genre of symphonic outdoor drama—puts a heroic spin on the grisly European conquest of St. Augustine. “Full of the kind of unnecessary commentary that might cause trouble,” as Lane describes it, this book is also written with affection toward the wide diversity of lives and experiences that make up the state he calls home. He shows that deciding the things that represent us at any given moment is far trickier than it appears. Especially in Florida, a state aptly symbolized by “a lot of contradictions baked into a Key lime pie.”
