With pollution destroying the food source of Florida's manatees, the state's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is ramping up efforts to feed the starving animals lettuce.
There are between 7,000 and 8,000 manatees in Florida, according to state estimates. Manatees can live up to 65 years, but they reproduce slowly.The initial— most donated by growers or funded by contributions —will be at the feeding site Thursday, said Ron Mezich of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Although the effort has mobilized resources along Florida's Atlantic Coast, Mezich said the only feeding will take place at this key site where thousands of manatees congregate during cold months. Once water reaches about 68 degrees Fahrenheit, manatees begin seeking warmer places near springs, power plants and other locations. "This is the largest warm-water site in this area. Almost all animals know it and will visit it at some time," he said."We are prepared to continue these efforts at least for the short term." A group of manatees is pictured in a canal where discharge from a nearby Florida Power & Light plant warms the water in Fort Lauderdale, FL, on Dec. 28, 2010.; almost any adult manatee bears some scars from boats. But starvation is the gravest threat they have faced in recent times. Several state-funded projects are ongoing to restore the vital seagrass, but environmental groups say that human-caused pollution that must be curbed for a more permanent solution. A petition filed with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last month contends it was an error to take manatees off the endangered list in 2017,
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