Manatee Insanity
Manatee Insanity
Inside the War over Florida's Most Famous Endangered Species
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.
“Manatee Insanity lives up to its name. . . . A fascinating look beyond the headlines.”—Bay Soundings
“An important book. . . . Enjoyable to read. . . . Much more than a description of the struggle over the survival of the manatee. It is a depiction of a much larger struggle—one for the very soul of the place we call Florida.”—H-Net
“Superbly researched, highly readable, and thought-provoking.”—Environmental History
“A wonderfully written book about a wide range of issues affecting the Florida manatee.”—Choice
“A thorough, enjoyable, and moving study of the myriad players involved in the fate of Florida’s gentle manatees.”—Florida Historical Quarterly
“Pittman . . . takes on powerboat owners, policy makers and environmentalists to tell the sea cow’s story.”—SEJournal
Craig Pittman is a native Floridian and an award-winning journalist. He wrote for the Tampa Bay Times for 30 years and now writes for the Florida Phoenix. He is the author of several books, including the New York Times bestseller Oh, Florida!: How America’s Weirdest State Influences the Rest of the Country; Cat Tale: The Wild, Weird Battle to Save the Florida Panther; and The Scent of Scandal: Greed, Betrayal, and the World’s Most Beautiful Orchid. He is cohost of the Welcome to Florida podcast. Pittman was named a Florida Literary Legend by the Florida Heritage Book Festival in 2020.
A volume in the Florida History and Culture series, edited by Raymond Arsenault and Gary R. Mormino
