|
Hi John,
Last week a 10-foot-long male manatee weighing more than 1,000 pounds had to be rescued.
He barely survived being struck by a boat. This year alone, at least 21 Florida manatees have died from boat strikes.
These sea creatures are being pushed to the brink from all directions.
Please help us save them with a gift to the Saving Life on Earth Fund. Your gift today will be matched dollar-for-dollar.
Last year was the deadliest on record for manatees.
Of the record 1,100 deaths of Florida manatees in 2021, 103 were due to collisions with watercraft.
It's bad enough the habitat manatees call home is so polluted that their natural food supply of seagrass is vanishing, leading to hundreds of deaths by starvation.
There's simply not enough food for these gentle giants to eat. Calves are being separated from their mothers.
Now, with the warmer weather, manatees are migrating into high-traffic waterways, increasing the risk of boat strikes.
Sadly, the ecocide of manatees has not let up: More than 515 manatees have perished so far this year.
Nutrient pollution is poisoning the Indian River Lagoon, where many manatees live, creating harmful algal blooms and throwing the ecosystem out of whack.
The rising death toll is proof Florida's manatees are in crisis.
Human interference is poisoning their habitat — and putting them in danger from speeding boats.
The Center has fought for years to protect manatees, including through lawsuits to secure their Endangered Species Act protection.
And we're challenging the Service's inaction on updating their critical habitat designation — a step it agreed was necessary more than a decade ago.
We must act before it's too late to save this iconic marine species.
Please make a matched gift today and help us save manatees.
For the wild,
|
