I'd still expect the blame to fall on humans and human-related
environmental changes (like cows) raising the base-line for bacteria levels.
 
And manatees are still adorable.
 
Peter
 
At 10:33 PM 9/17/98 EDT, Emilio Jose Power wrote:
>Hi Guys!!
>
>        No, this is not Emilio Jorge Power but his son Emilio Jose Power.
I would
>love to add a little tidbit of info on the deal with cows, oysters, and
>shellfish. Recently, in the past 6 years, oyster beds along with other
>shellfish collecting areas in the Indian River and other areas in Florida
were
>being closed because of high bacterial levels. It was believed that cows were
>the culprits and a study was devised to study the relationship between cow
>field runoff and the high level of bacteria in the waters. Well they started
>to get these little anomalies in their measurements with these big bursts of
>bacteria levels. After some very careful observations the answer was
>discovered. As they predicted the COWS were to blame!!!! It was the droppings
>of the cow we call MANATEES (also known as sea cows). They were leaving
little
>presents and caused the approved waters to be closed. GROSS HUH!! They're not
>so cute anymore!
>
>The ROYAL poop expert!
>Emilio Jose Power