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 f...