Manatee County, Florida has a Confederate monument, but a local resident hopes to get it replaced with a memorial to Snooty the Manatee, a legendary manatee who recently died in an accident just after his 69th birthday.
In 1948 Snooty was the first manatee born in captivity. Over his record-breaking life, Snooty taught researchers a great deal about his species. Via Pusateri:
Snooty the Manatee has been a symbol of Bradenton, FL for almost 70 years. He suddenly passed away on July 23rd 2017 and was the oldest living Manatee on record in the world. Subsequently, there is a Confederate memorial statue that stands directly in front of the old courthouse just blocks away from the aquarium where Snooty resided. To honor Snooty's legacy as a positive icon in Bradenton, I propose that the negative symbol of racism and oppression that is the Confederate monument be relocated and replaced with a statue of Snooty the Manatee. By doing so, the Confederate monument could possibly be moved to a museum (or other more appropriate location) out of everyday public eye and a more positive symbol then take its place.
Snooty does deserve a monument somewhere in Manatee County for his world-record longevity:
• Replace Confederate monument with statue of Snooty the Manatee (change.org)
