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Lauren Whiddon/Fresh Take FloridaThe latest figures are showing that 56 manatees have been found dead so far in Florida this year — even more than last year during the same time frame. That's worrying since last year was Florida's second-deadliest year for manatees on record. -
Last year was the second-worst ever when it comes to manatee deaths in Florida. Some 800 mortalities were recorded in 2022. At the heart of the die-off are ongoing water quality problems and seagrass losses in the Indian River Lagoon, a crucial manatee habitat.
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Lynne Sladky/APMore than six dozen threatened manatees are currently in rehabilitation centers in Florida and elsewhere amid a chronic starvation problem caused by water pollution, wildlife officials said Wednesday.
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National Wildlife Federation/The study from the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute shows the greatest concentration of toxins were in the sharks’ stomachs.
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Faced with habitat destruction and damage caused by pollution, the Indian River Lagoon has experienced devastating algal blooms and fish die offs. In hopes of bringing the lagoon back to good health, the Brevard Zoo created the “Restore Our Shores” conservation field project. -
With winter approaching and water temperatures dropping, a program that feeds lettuce to the marine mammals at a warm-water power plant near Cape Canaveral enters its second year. The feeding program comes after a record 1,102 manatee deaths in 2021.
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State wildlife officials Wednesday approved a seasonal no-entry zone in an area of Brevard County waters where manatees gather, while preparing for a second winter of feeding the sea cows to try to prevent deaths. Poor water quality and algae blooms have depleted seagrass beds that provide a key food source for manatees in the Indian River Lagoon.
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Plans are already in place to resume an experimental feeding program at a warm-water power plant near Cape Canaveral. Last year, about 202,000 pounds (91,600 kilograms) of lettuce was fed to manatees that gather there by the thousands when the weather turns colder.
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The Indian River Lagoon saw a brief respite from massive algal blooms this year. But heavy rains from Hurricane Ian led to wastewater spills and stormwater outflows in yet another setback to water quality. Even so, natural resource managers say the lagoon's restoration is still attainable.
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A record number of manatees died in Florida last year. Now an environmental group has filed a federal lawsuit charging that the state is violating the Endangered Species Act due to septic tanks and sewage-treatment plants discharging into the Indian River Lagoon in Brevard County.
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State wildlife officials are set to establish a “seasonal” no-entry zone in Brevard County waters to further protect threatened manatees, which have seen an unprecedented number of deaths mostly linked to malnutrition.
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Florida’s estuaries once teemed with clams, oysters and other bivalves that helped keep waters clean and seagrasses healthy. By the mid-20th century, only a fraction of the state’s vast shellfish beds and reefs remained. Can a small clam make a big difference in serious water pollution hotspots like the Indian River Lagoon?
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About 200 young people used Florida law to successfully petition the state to adopt renewable energy faster. One of them, Levi Draheim, is a veteran at suing the government to act on climate change.
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There have been 625 manatee deaths in Florida waters so far this year, down from last year’s record pace, but still well ahead of the five-year average.
