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 ...
Oh, the huge manatee!
Mebbe the Tampa Bay Times should move to Maryland.
My condo has a waiting list.
And it is all the caused by man.
Looks like there needs to be a hunting season...
I think Florida is a beautiful state. I’d like to visit when it’s not so humid though. I can’t take humidity. I worked in Texas back in 83 and it was bad. For me anyway. I love the high altitude and dry cool air.
O I thought this article was going to blame it on the unvaxed or global warming. Pollution is so yesterday.
“I think Florida is a beautiful state. I’d like to visit when it’s not so humid though. I can’t take humidity. I worked in Texas back in 83 and it was bad.”
Me too. I think Texas is a dump (along with McDonald’s and Walmart).
Worrying about a non native species? Weren’t they brought here from South America? Now we have Nile lizards, Anaconda’s Iguanas, an assortment of tropical fishes, lion fishes from the pacific, frogs and toads from God knows where, ducks from Mexico, + others. Its all uncontrollable, like our immigration. And now we are being invaded by a west coast critter named Pelosi. The Manatees aren’t endangered, its the Floridians that are.
Cue the “Oh,the huge manatee” photo!
I hear the manatees taste like chicken.
It’s a sea grass shortage!!
I am serious. The population has recovered, but the care of the inland waterways has not. They don’t have the food supply to support the increased numbers. They have eaten all the sea grass, and now they are starving.
We need to ‘recover’ the tidal rivers here from 100 years of misuse.
If by “pollution” they mean ag fertilizer run off, they may be right. Maybe.
What’s the latest ? Last I heard ag runoff was being blamed for red tide algae blooms. DeSantis had commissioned studies.
Red tide depletes oxygen which kills fish. Sea weed, too ?...and on the east coast ? I was unaware of a manatee population outside of the gulf side of Florida
Facts needed, I suspect.
The manatee is not native to Florida...
You forgot the mosquitoes bro.....the size of bald eagles
I would assume there are plenty on the Atlantic side. I once saw a manatee in the waters near Charleston, so they range at least that far north.
Manatees are destroying Florida. There is no grass left for fish to lay eggs in so the fish population is being decimated
A manatee can eat 100 pounds of food in a day, according to the University of Florida
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Sounds like my three sons when they were teen agers.
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