  It is believed that most giant elliptical galaxies possess nuclear black
holes with masses in excess of $10^8\Msun$. Bondi accretion from the
interstellar medium might then be expected to produce quasar-like luminosities
from the nuclei of even quiescent elliptical galaxies. It is a puzzle that such
luminosities are not observed. Motivated by this problem, Fabian & Rees have
recently suggested that the final stages of accretion in these objects occurs
in an advection-dominated mode with a correspondingly small radiative
efficiency. Despite possessing a long-known active nucleus and dynamical
evidence for a black hole, the low radiative and kinetic luminosities of the
core of M87 provide the best illustration of this problem. We examine an
advection-dominated model for the nucleus of M87 and show that accretion at the
Bondi rate is compatible with the best known estimates for the core flux from
radio through to X-ray wavelengths. The success of this model prompts us to
propose that FR-I radio galaxies and quiescent elliptical galaxies accrete in
an advection dominated mode whereas FR-II type radio-loud nuclei possess
radiatively efficient thin accretion disks.
