Woman photographed riding endangered Florida manatees

 

A woman caught on camera riding endangered Florida manatees has come forward and turned herself in to authorities, claiming ignorance.

Ana Gloria Garcia Gutierrez was photographed riding three manatees Sunday at Florida's Fort De Soto Park, near Tampa Bay, as beachgoers told her to get away from the gentle mammals, also ignoring signs posted along the beach about not touching wildlife.

"She was jumping from one to another," witness Lynn Parrish told a Fox 13 Tampa Bay television reporter. "She was like chasing them and jumping on them, sitting on them, holding them under and they're flapping and trying to get away from this woman."

Gutierrez, 52, turned herself in to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, telling deputies she was new to the area and didn't realize it was against the law to touch the manatees.

"I think it's egregious that somebody would just for their own pleasure, really, abuse an animal," said Sheriff Bob Gualtieri. "Manatees aren't meant to be ridden."

Charges have been forwarded to the state attorney's office for possible prosecution. Harrassing manatees is a second-degree misdemeanor under the Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act, which could result in a fine of up to $1,000 and possible jail time for Gutierrez.

One cannot imagine what Gutierrez was thinking, but what comes to my mind after hearing about her actions is a line from the movie Forrest Gump: Stupid is as stupid does.

-- Kelly Burgess

-- Images of Gutierrez taken by Steve Leach, fastballphotography.com

Comments

[steve leach]

I am the photographer who took the photos,
I can tell you, this is not blown out of proportion, Molest is a word that is part of the law, what she was doing was intentionally stopping the behavior of mating between the manatee in order for her to do what she wanted to do. Manatee mate in shallow water, her setting and laying on them was not done without many people screaming at her and the others to get away,
If they get used to humans and boats, yes they are going to get injured more often, it is tough for people in boats to see them in some Florida waters. But like any animal that gets used to human interaction they can act as if all humans are the ones who toes were nicely dangling off the doc, when in reality they may be ones trying to pin them to the bottom of the Gulf just to have fun.
people need to be more educated about the potential harm interaction with wildlife can have on both humans and animals,
I see it too often and stop it when I can.
I am working on educational materials right now to be used by non profits companies to educate people on the right and wrong ways to be around wildlife.
its really simple, you can be close, but as soon as your presence caused them to change their behavior you have gotten too close, that means coming towards you or going away. Just be quiet, hang out, and watch with your eyes from a mutually safe distance.
BTW, i would not mind the photo credit on the photos,
www.fastballphotography.com is my contact info and I can provide the Copyright ID as well if needed. Thanks again for sharing the story

[Alice Kennedy]

While having laws in place to protect the manatees is a good thing, I can't help but feel people have blown this incident out of porportion. Using words like "molest" make it sound as if the woman was doing purposeful harm to the animal, which is obviously not the case. I have had the occasion to see a herd of manatees up close and they seemed to enjoy the interation with those of us dangling our feet from the local county dock. If people want to get outraged at anything it should be the motorboats that had scarred the backs of all seven I saw that day. That is the REAL problem causing harm to the manatees.