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It’s unfortunate that the manatee advocacy groups who are now litigating the state to import thousand and thousands of pounds of nitrogen and phosphorus in the form of invasive vegetation, make manatees harmfully reliant on human feeding, and block boaters from even more water, don’t seem to realize that they’re just perpetuating more manatee deaths and counteracting the millions spent reducing nitrogen and phosphorus loading.

By adding non inner estuary cycled nutrients, it will only take longer for the grass beds to recover, and without any grass, the manatees are going to continue to starve because not enough food can be brought in to feed them all, nor should it be.

Instead of fighting for the one thing we can do to truly help the manatees, which is restoring their natural migration, they are perpetuating the manatee status quo that, like it or not, was part of the stress on the lagoons grass beds that led to the decline. Thermal pollution from power plants that’s been sold off as “good” for the manatees is sadly the very reason they are trapped here and starving. It’s also the reason why the population grew to extreme unnaturally high numbers in the Indian River Lagoon that are beyond the systems carrying capacity.

Eventually the power plant will be taken offline as new, more efficient means of generating electricity come online in the coming decades. The manatees will die of cold stress at that time even if the lagoon manages to recover.

It’s always a shame when emotions overrule rational thought and the ability to identify the real problem and solution to both the manatee and estuary needs. A restored IRL includes a restored manatee migration.

Article Source: Facebook IRL Discussion Group

Capt. Billy Rotne

About the Author

This guest editorial was written by Capt. Billy Rotne of Ponce Inlet Fishing Charters.

Capt. Rotne is a Florida native with over 25 years experience fishing inshore and nearshore in the east central Florida area. He was born and raised in a house on the water in Port Orange and had his first boat at 10 years of age. After guiding Mosquito Lagoon and it’s headwater Ponce Inlet for almost 15 years, Capt. Billy enjoys his career more than ever. From history about NASA, the lagoons flora, fauna, pre-Columbian peoples and geology, expect far more than just a fishing charter with Capt. Billy as your guide.