Florida's manatees are
dying at an alarming rate,
and if all things stay the same,
the state could be seen.
One of the deadliest years for
the Native Sea cows on record.
The problem? Well, that's what
scientists are scrambling to figure out.
Manatees are ubiquitous with Florida.
Heck, there's an entire
County named after them.
Their pudgy faces can even be
seen on landmarks across the
state. They couldn't named our
state marine mammal, and of course,
they are every mammal there.
Long live can live more than 60
years if they are allowed to do so.
They're probably the most
gentle animal I know of,
and they're really not capable
of aggression. So I think
people can identify with that too,
because they're defenceless.
They're vegetarians, and they
really are a beloved species.
Sadly, it's just as common to see
a statue of a manatee as it is
to hear about one dying.
My first real interaction
was a really sad 1 passing by another boat
that was towing a dead manatee behind it.
Everybody's faces on the boat looked very
solemn and I didn't know what was behind
the boat until we pass them and salt.
Why everybody was so upset and that was my
first interaction with the Florida Manatee.
See the relationship between manatees and
the state they call home is a strenuous one.
Float is lush beds of grass.
Make it the perfect environment for the
sea cows to float around and thrive in.
However, as soon as humans also
started calling Florida home,
the manatee population started to dwindle.
There was a time when it wasn't
uncommon to see Manatee on the menu,
and boats were hitting the mammals
on a pretty regular basis.
Many deaths were becoming so
common than in 1973 when the US
created the Endangered Species Act.
There were some of the first
animals on the list and they stayed
on there for over 40 years.
During that time,
the programs and protections
under the Endangered Species Act
helped manatee populations rebound
from hundreds to thousands.
In 2017,
manatees were removed from the endangered
list and designated as a brand species,
which many scientists said in
the mammals did not agree with.
So now it's 2021 and at the
time recording this,
there's over 500 reported
Florida manatee deaths,
three times the average of previous years.
At this rate,
over 1000 Florida manatees
could be wiped out.
Most of these deaths are being recorded on
the Indian River Lagoon in Brevard County.
The literal hub for manatees because of
the seagrass that sits beneath the water.
Seagrass is the biggest source
of food for manatees.
Without it,
they can become malnourished and even starve.
That's why it was so concerning.
One report showed nearly 60% of
seagrass in the Indian River lagoon
had died off over the last decade.
Florida Zone Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission said a
reduction in food availability was a
big factor for the deaths they recorded.
Scientists are pointing the finger
at Algy blooms for the dye off
seagrass like any other plant,
needs sunlight to survive.
Algy blooms block that sunlight when
they sit on the surface of the water.
Those series of algal blooms that
have a Kurd there really since 2011
have just year after year taking
a toll on the amount of seagrass.
You have nutrients coming in from the
groundwater through leaching from septic
tanks and drain fields and so forth.
You have wastewater treatment
facilities that are not up to standard.
They have spills.
You have runoff coming in from
the uplands and with fertilizers
and other impurities so that the
amount of nitrogen and specially in.
Phosphorus in particular,
once it reaches a certain level,
it begins to feed those algal
blooms in such a way that it
literally shaped out the seagrass.
Another issue is the shape of the Indian
River doesn't allow a lot of water to
easily get out and into the ocean. That
leaves a lot of excess
nutrients that just sit in the
lagoon and continue feeding algae blooms.
Luckily, there's a federal
investigation into the rise in deaths.
Experts are hoping it will provide some
concrete answers and solutions. If
in fact, the issue is that there
was no seagrass in the engineered
little goon because there was
too much nutrient pollution,
then that's actually good news
because we already have laws
in place that address them.
The bad news is that they are poorly
enforced in their poorly funded,
I think at the end of the day,
what would be a win here is whatever.
Scientists determined to be the
root 'cause it just gets addressed
and chances are really good that we
already have the tools we need in terms
of the laws. Manatees have been one
of Florida's most resilient mammals.
This latest obstacle is just another
chapter in the sea cows turbulent history.