Gentle manatees face threat from surprising source

Christopher Columbus gets credit for the first written record of manatees in North America, ones he saw near the Dominican Republic in 1492.

West Indian manatees, also called Florida manatees, are resident in peninsular Florida; they occur in the Caribbean and along the Gulf Coast to Mexico. During summer, some wander as far north as Virginia and have even been reported from Massachusetts.

This group of solely aquatic mammals, known scientifically as the Sirenia, is unrelated to whales and dolphins. The scientific name comes from the sirens, the mythical sea nymphs who lured lovesick sailors to watery graves.

Some historians believe that sailors reporting mermaid sightings actually saw manatees. They have no hind legs and do have a flipper-like tail vaguely resembling a mermaid's. But t