Florida's manatees are dying at unusually high rates this year, and experts warn that the sustained loss of a key food source is severely threatening the marine mammals.
"If this continues through the rest of the year, this is going to be one of the highest mortality years ever," one marine biologist said.Eva Marie Uzcategui / AFP via Getty ImagesFlorida's manatees are dying at unusually high rates this year, and experts are warning that the sustained loss of a key food source is severely threatening the iconic marine mammals., which spans Jan. 1 to May 28, recorded 761 manatee deaths so far in 2021.
"The algal blooms are clouding the water and cutting off light, so the seagrass can’t photosynthesize and sustain themselves," Moore said, adding that manatees face starvation and malnourishment as a result. Decades of nutrient pollution are compounding the environmental stresses on Florida's fragile ecosystems, said Patrick Rose, executive director of, a nonprofit that was established in 1981 by singer Jimmy Buffett and former Florida Gov. Bob Graham.
"If we don't take care of our human waste stream, it won't just go away," he said."These natural systems can only absorb so much before they begin to fail, and in these cases, fail catastrophically."
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