Page values for "IRLNews:2021-03-03 Dramatic Rise in Manatee Deaths"

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.