Blurring Boundaries: Science and the Making of Manatee Protection Law.

Using multiple qualitative methods, this paper examines how the creation of state law to protect manatees in Florida was influenced by lobbyists and legislators having social values inconsistent with strong, legal protection for the species. During the lawmaking process groups concerned about the economic well being of the state’s marine industry effectively influenced the how the manatee program would be assessed and how scientific data for that assessment would be gathered in the future. In this case, science and law became intertwined in a bid to make manatee protection more palatable to opponents of government regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]