Initially, the program seemed to make little progress. But in the past few weeks, as the temperature dipped in Florida, nearly three dozen sea cows were spotted munching on romaine lettuce, consuming 450 pounds of leafy greens in one day!
John — we have a mid-winter update on Florida’s dire manatee crisis.
More than 1,000 manatees died in the last year alone, mostly due to pollutants and toxic algae blooms — intensified by the climate crisis — choking off food sources. Starvation has now outpaced boat strikes as a major threat to the sea cow’s survival.
As of December, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has taken the drastic action of starting a pilot feeding program near a power plant in Cape Canaveral. With the risk of cold stress in waters below 68 degrees and food sources scarce due to climate change, desperate times called for desperate measures.
Initially, the program seemed to make little progress. But in the past few weeks, as the temperature dipped in Florida, nearly three dozen sea cows were spotted munching on romaine lettuce, consuming 450 pounds of leafy greens in one day!
This is a great first step, but the manatee population is still in critical condition. All five of Florida’s rehabilitation centers are working under emergency conditions and are overwhelmed with the number of malnourished manatees needing assistance. To make space for incoming patients, these rehab centers have to reintroduce manatees back into the wild once they reach 800 pounds, which is still 200 pounds underweight. With this starvation crisis reaching a critical point, more rehab capacity and feeding program expansion will be vital to protect the dwindling sea cow population.
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