View source for IRLNews:2021-03-03 Dramatic Rise in Manatee Deaths

{{News Link
|Title=Dramatic Rise in Manatee Deaths
|Url=https://www.wesh.com/article/dramatic-rise-in-manatee-deaths/35570031
|Access_Date=2021-03-03
|Description="There may be a significant number of manatees that are dying because they are just starving to death.", Patrick Rose, Save the Manatee
|Location=Indian River Lagoon
|Region=Florida East Coast
|Water_Body=Estuary
|Type=Website
|Publication=WESH2 News
|Published_Date=2021-02-19
|Publisher=WESH TV2
|Publisher_Url=https://www.wesh.com/
|Text_Body=Patrick Rose, Save the Manatee Executive Director, says the manatee populations in the St. Johns River and Springs like Blue Spring, where the animals stay warm in the winter, are still healthy, but he believes the Indian River Lagoon itself, in certain areas, is creating an unhealthy environment for sea cows. If there's nothing to forage, no seagrass, they can't easily survive.

Rose and others blame the seagrass loss for a spike in manatee deaths this winter. In all of 2020, there were 637 manatee deaths across Florida. But in the first two months of 2021, there have already been more than 300 deaths, and another 100 occurred in December. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates about 6,500 manatees are left in the Southeast United States, most of them in Florida.
|Topic=Wildlife
|Poster=Admin
|Posted=20210303185628
}}