manatees

Manatees are not Florida natives

December 20, 2024 By EarthWise 1 Comment

Florida is very proud of its manatees. It has a county named after them and has pictures of them on license plates. These gentle creatures are part of Florida culture. But recent research indicates that manatees – also known as sea cows – might only be relatively recent residents of the Sunshine State.

Manatees have been spotted in Florida waters for several centuries but might have only been tourists visiting briefly before returning to their home waters in the Caribbean in places like Cuba.

The new research suggests that manatees might not have actually taken up residence in Florida until after Europeans colonized the area in the 1500s. There is a rarity of manatee bones on archaeological sites that date back further. It was particularly striking that Crystal River, which is an epicenter for modern manatee populations, had little evidence of their presence in earlier times.

Even into the early 1900s, Florida newspaper reports treated manatee sightings as a spectacle rather than a common occurrence. In the 1920s and 1930s, there started to be more routine sightings in places like yacht basins and canal harbors. In the 1950s, manatees became more plentiful in Tampa Bay and Crystal River. The warming waters and human activities creating shallow warm water refuges increased manatee populations, particularly near places like power plants.

The current Florida manatee population is between 8,000 and 12,000 and is classified as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, an improvement over its previous endangered status. But pollution is killing a lot of the seagrass that they eat, and their safety is by no means assured.

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Why manatees are likely not Florida natives

Photo, posted March 25, 2012, courtesy of David Hinkel / USFWS via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Balloon release laws

May 27, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The Florida state legislature has recently passed a law that bans the intentional release of helium balloons outdoors. It is a rare example of a bipartisan piece of legislation. Florida is joining six other states that have already enacted balloon restricting laws.

Balloons released into the sky don’t just disappear into the ether. They often end up in oceans and waterways and the thin material that remains is 32 times more likely to kill seabirds than other types of plastic debris. Aquatic animals often mistake balloons for jellyfish and fill up on them. Balloons tied up with ribbons entangle turtles and manatees. Even grazing cows have died from ingesting balloons. Balloons contribute to microplastic pollution, which is a growing problem for all living things, including humans.

Other states with balloon release laws are Connecticut, Tennessee, New York, Texas, California, and Virginia. Details of the laws vary. They carve out exceptions for specific applications. They exempt small children. Some limit the quantity of balloon release. Others require balloons to be weighted down to prevent them from rising too high. California’s legislation is aimed at the metallized mylar balloons that have shorted out high-tension electrical wires and triggered wildfires.

The Florida law equates intentionally releasing a lighter-than-air balloon with littering. It’s a non-criminal offense that carries a fine of $150.

People enjoy releasing helium balloons, particularly en masse. The spectacle has become part of weddings, gender reveal parties, and even funerals. But the practice has serious environmental repercussions, and its restriction is being pursued by more and more states and municipalities.

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Up, Up and Not OK: Letting Go of Balloons Could Soon Be Illegal in Florida

Photo, posted August 16, 2022, courtesy of Ryan Mandelbaum via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Florida’s Starving Manatees | Earth Wise

January 12, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Manatees, also called “sea cows”, have been the victims of farm runoff. They have starved to death by the hundreds along Florida’s east coast because algae blooms fed by nitrogen-rich fertilizer runoff are proliferating on the ocean surface and blocking sunlight from reaching seagrass below. Seagrass is the primary source of food for manatees in the winter. As seagrass dies off, so do the manatees.

Over 1,000 manatees have been found dead so far this year. It is estimated that fewer than 8,000 remain in Florida waters. Efforts are underway to restore coastal seagrass in the region as well as clams and oysters, which filter pollutants from water. Unless the water is cleared up, it will be difficult to regrow the seagrass. But the current situation is that manatees are so short on food that they are eating seagrass roots, killing the plants and thwarting efforts to help seagrass recovery.

Given this dire situation, the federal governmental has approved a program of feeding manatees. The starving animals will be fed by hand in Florida, which is a rare wildlife intervention. Conservation agencies tend to favor leaving wild animals to their own foraging and hunting so that they don’t become dependent on human handouts.

During the trial phase of the program, wildlife experts are likely to feed the animals romaine lettuce and cabbage, which is what manatees in captivity eat. The hope is to give the animals enough additional food for them to get through the winter. The trial feeding will begin on private property. It remains illegal for the public to feed manatees.

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Florida to feed starving manatees in rare conservation move

Photo, posted February 21, 2008, courtesy of Keith Ramos/USFWS via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Manatees And Pollution | Earth Wise

November 11, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Manatees are large, gentle, and curious marine mammals measuring up to 13 feet long and weighing up to 3,300 lbs. There are three living species of manatees: The Amazonian Manatee, the West African Manatee, and the West Indian Manatee, which is commonly found in Florida and the Gulf Coast. Manatees inhabit the shallow, marshy coastal areas and rivers of the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic coast, the Amazon basin, and West Africa.

The West Indian Manatee, which includes the Florida Manatee, is protected under the Endangered Species Act. Today, the range-wide population is estimated to be at least 13,000 manatees, with more than 6,500 in the southeastern United States and Puerto Rico.

In Florida, an uptick in nutrient loading from nonpoint sources is triggering algal blooms in Indian River Lagoon and neighboring areas. These algal blooms have decimated seagrass, manatees’ primary food source.

As a result , manatees have starved to death by the hundreds along Florida’s east coast. The state has recorded 974 manatee deaths in 2021, shattering previous annual all-time highs with still approximately two months to go. Manatees, which need to eat between 100-200 pounds of seagrass daily, are now eating the seagrass roots, which permanently kills the aquatic plants.

Efforts are being made to replant seagrass and to restore clam and oyster beds so that the mollusks can help clean the water. But manatees face a myriad of additional threats, including collisions with boats and ships, temperature changes, disease, and crocodile predation.

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Florida lawmakers hear Fish & Wildlife agency response to manatee death ‘catastrophe’

West Indian manatee

Preliminary 2021 Manatee Mortality Table by County

Photo, posted May 7, 2010, courtesy of Jim Reid/USFWS via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.