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Lori Morris/CourtesyHanisak, director of education and the marine ecosystems health program at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, died May 7. -
Molly Duerig/Central Florida Public MediaThe $4.2 million project aims to reduce erosion and restore living shoreline along the causeway, in addition to boosting water quality in the Indian River Lagoon. -
Jefferee Woo/Tampa Bay TimesMore than half of Florida manatees rely on power plants to survive. That’s a problem for addressing climate change. -
So far this year, state wildlife officials have recorded 83 deaths across the state through Feb. 9. That figure roughly tracks the number of deaths from the same period last year but is significantly better than 2021 or 2022, when more than 200 manatees died during the same period of about five weeks. Overall, Florida averages more than 700 deaths per year.
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The Brevard County Save Our Indian River Lagoon (SOIRL) Citizen Oversight Committee voted unanimously Friday to advance proposed updates to a ten-year plan for restoring the polluted lagoon to better health. -
Urban fertilizer application and agricultural fertilizer application are currently “being revised behind the scenes.” -
Nutrient buildup from runoff, increased development and septic systems have led to harmful algal blooms in Indian River Lagoon. These blooms then decimate the seagrass, which is the manatee’s food source. -
Wildlife officials say a two-year experimental feeding program for starving Florida manatees will not immediately resume this winter as conditions have improved for the threatened marine mammals and the seagrass on which they depend. -
The Indian River Lagoon’s algae bloom this year extended farther south into the lagoon than normal. -
The agency is responding to two Endangered Species Act petitions filed on behalf of the manatees. -
Researchers are focused on exploring more sustainable restoration methods. -
The City of Cape Canaveral, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and Stetson University, along with city and county partners are working on the flooding solution. -
442 manatee deaths were recorded this year between January and the start of September. That’s down a couple hundred from the 5-year average for the same time period. But manatees are still struggling throughout the state. -
"Seagrass die-off has happened before in Florida in various estuaries at various times. Seagrass recovers. But this is the first time it's really been simultaneous in all five major estuaries in Florida," said Bill Kearney of the Sun Sentinel.
