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Floridians are killing the state’s beloved manatees
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ^ | November 26, 2021 | Tampa Bay Times

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 ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Editorial; Government; News/Current Events; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: agriculture; algae; banned; boaters; chat; chatforum; endangered; esa; fakenews; fertilizer; florida; hillsborough; hyperbole; manatees; mediawingofthednc; partisanmediashill; partisanmediashills; pinellas; redtide; rondesantis; runoff; seagrass; tampabaytimes; threatened
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To: Graybeard58

100 pounds of food in a day? That doesn’t sound right


21 posted on 11/27/2021 4:55:20 AM PST by Mr. K (No consequence of repealing obamacare is worse than obamacare itself)
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To: V_TWIN

“..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.


22 posted on 11/27/2021 4:55:55 AM PST by lgjhn23 (Pray for America....)
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To: LIConFem

Oh, the huge manatee!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

How did I know that was coming?


23 posted on 11/27/2021 4:56:46 AM PST by Graybeard58 (The China virus doesn't scare me, Venezuelaism does.)
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To: Graybeard58

Sounds like my three sons when they were teen agers.


Is that you, Fred McMurray?


24 posted on 11/27/2021 4:58:44 AM PST by nesnah (Infringe - act so as to limit or undermine [something]; encroach on)
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To: FreedomPoster

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


25 posted on 11/27/2021 5:02:25 AM PST by chiller (Davey Crockett said: "Be sure you're right. Then go ahead'. I'm going ahead.)
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To: HighSierra5

I have lived in FL three times. Flat, humid, hurricanes and all of the landscape is artificial apart from the mangroves and beaches.


26 posted on 11/27/2021 5:03:14 AM PST by Clemenza (I have no tolerance for tolerance)
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To: nesnah

Is that you, Fred McMurray?

...............................................

I have three daughters also. Light weight eaters though.


27 posted on 11/27/2021 5:05:46 AM PST by Graybeard58 (The China virus doesn't scare me, Venezuelaism does.)
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To: Gay State Conservative

28 posted on 11/27/2021 5:12:22 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (Florida: America's new free zone.)
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To: HighSierra5

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.


29 posted on 11/27/2021 5:14:20 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (Florida: America's new free zone.)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Every morning, before the sun is up,
I rise and find the shining dew
on every buttercup.
Then I take off in the boat
to slay manatees all day.

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.

30 posted on 11/27/2021 5:18:50 AM PST by NautiNurse (Who will portray Alec Baldwin in the SNL skit? )
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

“””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.”


31 posted on 11/27/2021 5:27:03 AM PST by Presbyterian Reporter
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To: BobL

“”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.


32 posted on 11/27/2021 5:43:09 AM PST by Dusty Road (")
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To: Dusty Road

...but I do like cabbage, particularly boiled cabbage.


33 posted on 11/27/2021 5:45:06 AM PST by BobL (I shop at Walmart and eat at McDonald's, I just don't tell anyone, like most here.)
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To: Mr. K

An okapi eats 70 pounds of leaves a day

(Shameless plug for The Okapi Project, since I personally know the founder)


34 posted on 11/27/2021 5:45:49 AM PST by digger48
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To: BobL

Here in Texas we prefer it fried with bacon, onion and green chili’s.


35 posted on 11/27/2021 5:48:06 AM PST by Dusty Road (")
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To: digger48

And butter, lot’s of butter.


36 posted on 11/27/2021 5:49:46 AM PST by Dusty Road (")
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To: Eric in the Ozarks; Bringbackthedraft

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission and many other sources, manatees are native to Florida.


37 posted on 11/27/2021 5:51:36 AM PST by CatHerd (Not a newbie - lost my password)
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To: Bringbackthedraft

Don’t forget nasty destructive monkeys in the Silver river area


38 posted on 11/27/2021 5:52:27 AM PST by from occupied ga (Your government is your most dangerous enemy - EVs a solution for which there is no problem)
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To: Presbyterian Reporter

So true. Florida had a population of 2.8 million people in 1950 and today the population is over 22 million
_______________________________________________________________________

Arthur Godfrey broadcasting his live morning and prime-time TV shows from Miami in the 1950s showcased Florida to the nation.


39 posted on 11/27/2021 5:54:35 AM PST by Roccus (Prima di ogni altra cosa, siati armati!)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Did they mention the record cold or the hundreds that get hit by boats every year?


40 posted on 11/27/2021 5:56:08 AM PST by Dusty Road (")
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