Posted on 11/27/2021 4:05:58 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
What a bad year to be a Florida manatee. For the first time on record, more than 1,000 of the sea mammals have died in a calendar year — and it’s not even December yet. That could amount to 1 in every 7 of the state’s manatees gone in less than 11 months. Many of them starved, thanks to a die-off of seagrass, a problem worsened by human-made pollution. In the short run, Florida owes it to this iconic mammal to find ways to mitigate the damage. It’s also time to put the manatees back on the endangered species list, which would help their long-term prospects.
In recent years, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has estimated the state’s total manatee population at a minimum of 7,250. Through Nov. 12, the commission has recorded 1,003 deaths, smashing the previous record of 830 set in 2013. As the Tampa Bay Times reported, the year got off to a bad start when manatees returned to one of their typical wintering spots near a power plant in the Indian River Lagoon off Brevard County. Manatees often seek the warmer waters near power plants during cold winter months. But algal blooms in recent years killed tens of thousands of acres of seagrass, a primary food source for the voracious eaters. A 1,000-pound manatee can eat 100 pounds of food in a day, according to the University of Florida. Without enough seagrass, many of the manatees starved.
(Excerpt) Read more at post-gazette.com ...
100 pounds of food in a day? That doesn’t sound right
“..You forgot the mosquitoes bro.....the size of bald eagles...”
Yep! And in east Texas, those pesky mosquitoes use DEET for growth and can stand flat-footed and kiss a turkey! They can fly off taking small dogs and babies with em. NOT a good place at all for liberals. Stay away for your own health and safety.
Oh, the huge manatee!
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How did I know that was coming?
Sounds like my three sons when they were teen agers.
Is that you, Fred McMurray?
Thanks. I’ve spent a fair number of weeks on the SE Florida coast but was unaware. Must be in the quieter waters, inlets, intracoastal waters, low country, etc
I have lived in FL three times. Flat, humid, hurricanes and all of the landscape is artificial apart from the mangroves and beaches.
Is that you, Fred McMurray?
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I have three daughters also. Light weight eaters though.
This is probably the time to do it then, during the winter season. Temps are moderate, but not frigid most of the time. However, I believe the highest spot in Florida is less than 200 feet above sea level, so I don’t think you would like to live here, either.
This is the most asinine of Floridian accusations. The red tide and blue algae appear to have killed off the sea grasses on which the manatees feed.
“””Florida is evil. You liberals won’t want to move here.”””
So true. Florida had a population of 2.8 million people in 1950 and today the population is over 22 million.
Liberals and conservatives keep moving to Florida to escape the Democrat run hell-holes in the Northeast and Midwest.
The Florida Land Developers are more than happy to convert Florida’s grasslands and farms into sprawling gated communities for those refugees from Democrat run hell-hole states.
As the song says: “Pave over paradise and put up a parking lot.”
“”Me too. I think Texas is a dump (along with McDonald’s and Walmart).””
The decades I’ve spent pondering what a head of cabbage thought about Texas, I need ponder no more.
...but I do like cabbage, particularly boiled cabbage.
An okapi eats 70 pounds of leaves a day
(Shameless plug for The Okapi Project, since I personally know the founder)
Here in Texas we prefer it fried with bacon, onion and green chili’s.
And butter, lot’s of butter.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission and many other sources, manatees are native to Florida.
Don’t forget nasty destructive monkeys in the Silver river area
So true. Florida had a population of 2.8 million people in 1950 and today the population is over 22 million
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Arthur Godfrey broadcasting his live morning and prime-time TV shows from Miami in the 1950s showcased Florida to the nation.
Did they mention the record cold or the hundreds that get hit by boats every year?
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