Spring forward.
To delete this message, click the X at top right.

Manatees

Post Reply
User avatar
Volkonski
Posts: 11589
Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2021 11:06 am
Location: Texoma and North Fork of Long Island
Occupation: Retired mechanical engineer
Verified:

Manatees

#1

Post by Volkonski »

Florida set to record highest number of manatee deaths in a decade
Cold weather, a decline in seagrass due to development, and contaminated waterways have contributed to 432 deaths this year


https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... 1615494244
The number of deaths, 432 so far this year, is nearly three times the five-year average of 146 deaths between 1 January and 5 March, the South Florida SunSentinel reported, citing figures from the Florida fish and wildlife conservation commission. Last year, the state recorded 637 manatee deaths, and in 2019, 607.

“It’s this combination we have of cold weather, we have a reduction of where manatees can go, and in the places where manatees can go, as a consequence of human development and other activities, we have poor water quality which has resulted in these grass die-offs,” said Jaclyn Lopez, Florida director of the Center for Biological Diversity.

The largest number of deaths is in Brevard county, with 179, the newspaper reported. Many of those deaths occurred along the Indian River, which is a common warm-water gathering place, officials said. The manatees swim away to eat seagrass, which is their main source of food. But they aren’t finding as much, so they return hungry to the warmer water.

“A manatee will choose starvation over freezing to death,” Lopez said.
“If everyone fought for their own convictions there would be no war.” ― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
Post Reply

Return to “Pollution and Extinction of Species”