Earth Protect Blog

Shared from the 2018-08-22 The Denver Post eEdition

MORE MANATEES HAVE DIED IN FLORIDA THIS YEAR THAN ALL OF 2017

ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. » The number of manatee deaths in Florida this year has already exceeded the total for all of 2017.

Blame Red Tide, which is suspected of killing more than 100 of them.

So far, 554 manatees have died in 2018, with four months left to go. Last year’s total was 538.

As of Saturday, the most recent date for the running total, the Red Tide bloom had been verified as the cause of death for 29 manatees, and was suspected of killing another 74. That makes a total of 103 that appear to have fallen prey to the lingering toxic algae.

“We find that the primary route is through ingestion of seagrass that has the toxins on it,” Dr. Mar-tine de Wit of the state’s marine mammal pathology laboratory in St. Petersburg said Monday.

— Tampa Bay Times

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