Snooty, World's Oldest Known Manatee, Dies at 6. I'm Not Crying, You're Crying. We have all been robbed of one Snooty, the beautiful, beloved 6. ![]() The South Florida Museum is deeply saddened to share the news that our beloved Snooty has died.…Read more Read. According to Bay News 9, Snooty passed away at the South Florida Museum in Bradenton, Florida just one day after celebrating his 6. Manatees, which are three separate but closely related species of mild- mannered aquatic mammals that graze on sea grass and other plants, are basically nature’s good boys and girls. They can weigh more than half a ton, but are both slow and curious, qualities that make them vulnerable to human predation or negligence and have tragically led to their current endangered or threatened status across the globe. Snooty’s age was remarkably prodigious, given manatees have a biological life expectancy of roughly 4. ![]() In practice they often perish at much younger ages due to all the bad things some humans do to them, like degrading their habitats or hitting them repeatedly with boats. The IUCN Red List estimates fewer than 1. West Indian manatees remain in the wild. Snooty was around for so long that just two days ago, the Bradenton Herald reported on perennial rumors he died long in the past and had been replaced with an impostor. It unfortunately looks like he was not a victim of his advanced age, however, but instead swam into a part of the enclosure which was supposed to be sealed.“Snooty was found in an underwater area only used to access plumbing for the exhibit life support system,” the South Florida Museum told Bay News 9 in a statement. Early indications are that an access panel door that is normally bolted shut had somehow been knocked loose and that Snooty was able to swim in.”The museum will remain closed while the investigation continues and “staff who worked with him have an opportunity to grieve,” it added. Three other manatees who were sharing the enclosure are safe. Thousands of people regularly attended Snooty’s birthday parties, and he served as the official mascot of Manatee County. Snooty was one of just four or five manatees in the entire state allowed to receive regular human contact and training, because he was too old to be released, and was well known for loving it.“Snooty’s very important to this community,” museum provost and chief operating officer Jeff Rodgers told the Guardian. He’s been with us for 6. We grieve right along with these folks. We’ve given a lot of hugs on the front porch of the museum today.”[Bay News 9].
Another day, another multinational video service brought to its knees by a group of rogue hackers with a bone to pick. Worst Things The Starks Have Done. The Starks have been the family to root for since the very first episode of Game of Thrones. In a world where no character is purely good, the Starks are as close as it comes, which only makes it that much more devastating when over half of them die brutal and unexpected deaths. But in hindsight, it’s no surprise that Westeros’ most popular family has dwindled over the seasons. Honor and nobility are redeeming qualities among a modern day television audience, but in the medieval setting of the HBO series, honor is about as useful as challenging the Mountain to an arm wrestle. The Starks have made some unbelievably poor choices over the show’s seven seasons, usually for some noble reason, and now we’re breaking down the very worst of the worst. However, this isn’t just a list of the bad decisions they have made. We’re judging terrible life choices against rare acts of dishonor and, in fewer cases still, downright evil. As this list unfolds, you may notice that the Starks who are still alive (and we are counting Jon for having been raised with these people) have most often committed the immoral offenses, as they have come to learn how the game is played. Here are the 1. 5 Worst Things the Starks Have Done. Rickon Doesn’t Zig- Zag. Rickon has only a single entry on this list, but it’s not because he’s the most sensible of the Stark children – it’s more the fact that he doesn’t have the screen time to do anything else wrong. In fact, he manages to screw up his one and only moment in the spotlight, which not only leads directly to his own death, but plays right into Ramsay’s battle plan. It’s not as though Rickon doesn’t know the arrows are coming; the reason he starts running in the first place is because he sees the bow in Ramsay’s hand. At this point, Rickon has two options: run backwards so as to easily avoid the deadly arrows being fired at him, or at the very least, shake up his movements. Even the audience knows that it’s easier to hit a target moving in a straight line, so imagine living in the world of Game of Thrones and not even thinking to throw in a few zig- zags. Arya Kills Meryn Trant. No one’s denying that Meryn Trant was one of the few Game of Thrones characters who deserved what he got. This is the man who was very likely a pedophile, who killed Syrio Forel, and tortured Sansa in the throne room. Arya has made some very questionable moral choices and killing Meryn Trant was not one of them, but it wasn’t exactly the smartest move. Arya, at the time, is training in Braavos with the Faceless Men, who, by the way, are watching her every move and can tell when someone is lying. In killing Trant, Arya not only proves that she isn’t ready to become No One, but steals from the Many- Faced God right under the nose of the Faceless Men. All things considered, she’s lucky not to lose a lot more than her eyesight. Catelyn Arrests Tyrion. It’s one of season one’s best scenes, but that doesn’t make Catelyn’s arrest of Tyrion any less wrong. First, it should have been obvious to Catelyn that Tyrion is innocent, even if only because it’s Tyrion who instigates the conversation, calling out Lady Stark in the midst of a crowded tavern. Catelyn is acting solely on Littlefinger’s word (more on him later) that the knife used in Bran’s assassination attempt belonged to Tyrion. As the latter points out later in the season, “What sort of imbecile arms an assassin with his own blade?” and yet Cat ignores all logic and persists with his trial. Catelyn’s intentions are good, but she has no evidence against Tyrion, and worse still she expels any chance of a relationship with the one Lannister who might actually be sympathetic to her cause. Robb Executes Rickard Karstark. We’re not defending the murder of two innocent boys, but Catelyn commits the ultimate treason and gets away with it, and even Robb betrays his vow to Walder Frey for his own personal gain. From Rickard Karstark’s point of view, Jaime is responsible for death of his son; it’s in his best interests to take revenge on Jaime’s family, and why shouldn’t he do what’s best for him when Robb is breaking oaths all over the place to get what he wants? Robb proves his hypocrisy by beheading Rickard, succeeding only in turning his own men against him, including the entire Karstark army (one of the biggest in the North). Incidentally, that same army would have comfortably defeated Jon’s forces at the Battle of the Bastards if not for the Vale. Jon Meets Ramsay in an Open Field. Jon makes two major mistakes at the Battle of the Bastards. The first is rushing to save Rickon, knowing that he would have nowhere to go but forward when the arrows started flying, and exposing himself to the entire Bolton army. But we’ll let that one slide, as it’s unfair to expect Jon to stand by and watch his brother/cousin die. A bigger mistake is meeting Ramsay in an open field in the first place, when a sneak attack on his childhood home is by far the better option, especially given that he knows the place inside out. It may not be in the Stark code of honor, but with a wildling army famous across Westeros for raiding villages, Jon had a decent shot at victory even without Littlefinger’s help. Both before and during the battle, Ramsay is able to outwit Jon by counting on his honor, which might very well have got him killed if not for some heavy plot armor and the knights of the Vale. Sansa Doesn’t Tell Jon about the Vale. Speaking of the knights of the Vale, we still haven’t been given any explanation as to why Sansa refuses to tell Jon about Littlefinger’s army. It’s clear that she doesn’t trust Jon as a commander (not surprising given the previous entry), but by acting without Jon’s knowledge or consent, not only does she knowingly guarantee the deaths of several thousand Northmen – she ensures that she takes the credit. If Jon waits for the Eyrie soldiers, Ramsay likely has to take Jon’s offer of one- on- one combat. Either that or Jon is forced into a siege of Winterfell, which 2. Starks would surely be favorites to win. If Jon knows about the Eyrie soldiers and keeps them from Ramsay, they rush in before the bloodshed and only the Bolton loyalists have to die. There’s no scenario in which knowing about the knights of the Vale doesn’t save innocent lives. Arya Wastes Her Deaths. Arya doesn’t value honor in the same way as the rest of her family; she merely shrugs at Jaqen’s suggestion that she lacks honor, and she’s not above trickery or going behind someone’s back to get what she wants. It’s probably the single reason she has survived so long in this world, but at the same time, it means that she has no excuse for her poor decisions. When Arya is offered three deaths as repayment for saving Jaqen’s life, she skips over the names on her kill list and uses them on characters whose names she doesn’t even know. It might have benefitted her in the short term, but she wastes the opportunity to ensure her family’s victory over the Lannisters by sparing Joffrey, Cersei, and Tywin (who was literally just upstairs). With some actual forward- thinking, she could even have checked the Mountain or the Hound off her list, neither of whom she has any chance of beating in a straight fight. Catelyn Frees Jaime. We’ve already mentioned Catelyn’s blatant treason in freeing Robb’s most valuable prisoner, but we haven’t mentioned the logic behind it. First, Catelyn trusts the Kingslayer, of all people, to uphold his oath and return Sansa and Arya to their mother, but she does it without any knowledge of Arya’s whereabouts. She’s effectively trading Jaime for Sansa, and even assuming that she gets Sansa back, the North has gained nothing from its capture of Jaime Lannister. It may not be pleasant, but Jaime is worth more to Robb than Sansa in this particular war. To top it all off, Catelyn sends Brienne to escort Jaime home, leaving herself in the midst of a war without protection, and we all know what happens next. If Brienne had been at the Red Wedding, Catelyn might well have escaped with her life. Jon Goes North of the Wall. Jon has ventured north of the Wall on several occasions, and given the separate armies of wilding savages and indestructible ice zombies that live beyond the Wall, there’s a case to be made that each trip was somewhat misguided. But we understand why Jon had to pose as a wildling, and later convince them to journey south. We’re not quite so sure about his recent trip through the Eastwatch gate, however.
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