Manatees’ starvation may be easing in Florida, authorities say – Orlando Sentinel

Manatees caught in a starvation disaster in the Indian River east of Orlando may not be as stricken as a 12 months in the past, wildlife officers stated Wednesday.

“We did some manatee research captures last week in Brevard and based on those animals we captured, they all looked like they were in decent body condition,” stated Andy Garrett, a state biologist. “We are hopeful but cautiously optimistic that maybe they turned a corner but it is a sample size of only 9 or 10 animals, so it’s still yet to be seen.”

State and federal authorities throughout the previous week have restarted an emergency response of feeding lettuce to manatees at a website south of Titusville alongside the Indian River in Brevard County.

“Since we’ve been on site last week and started the operations fully on Friday, we have had about 1,000 pounds of romaine lettuce from our South Florida farms provided to the manatees,” stated Michelle Pasawicz of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. She added that every one of that lettuce seems to have been consumed.

Last winter for the primary time, a partnership of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service fed 200,000 kilos of lettuce to manatees at a Florida Power & Light Co. electrical plant on the Indian River.

Manatees in Brevard County’s share of the Indian River have been victims of an ecosystem collapse pushed by air pollution and ensuing in eradication of seagrass, the first meals of the marine mammals.

Many of the manatee carcasses recovered, and most of the stricken animals rescued, confirmed indicators of superior starvation.

Pasawicz stated it’s tough to totally assess manatee situations whereas they’re in the water on the emergency feeding website however what may be noticed was encouraging.

“On site we have not seen any compromised animals and we are hopeful as well,” Pasawicz stated.

A chilly entrance forecast for the Christmas weekend is prone to convey many manatees to the FPL plant which discharges heat water from its turbines. Despite their dimension, manatees should not effectively insulated.

During hotter months, manatees disperse extensively in Florida, the place the are higher in a position to forage for aquatic crops, wildlife officers say.

So far, workers on the feeding website have counted dozens of manatees at a time however a chronic drop in temperatures may convey lots of if no more than a thousand manatees.

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