ENVIRONMENT
STRUGGLING TO SURVIVE
Manatees starving to death in unprecedented numbers
This year has been a disastrous one so far for
86
manatees in the Indian River Lagoon. Scientists
and experts are saying the coming
winter could be as bad or worse. And there
are no quick or easy solutions to end the deaths.
In Martin County, 36 manatees have died from
Jan. 1 through Sept. 10, while 23 have died in Indian
River County and 15 have died in St. Lucie County.
Brevard has seen the most deaths in the state, with
319. Overall, Florida has reported 942 manatee
deaths from Jan. 1 through Sept. 10.
“Unprecedented,” says Martine deWit, the chief
biologist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission. “There were so many deaths we
couldn’t do necropsies on all of them.”
According to deWit, starvation was the overwhelming
cause of death on those manatees she
was able to necropsy. The cause is the loss of sea-
BY FRED MAYS
KATHY JONES
Manatees are drawn to Three Sisters Springs, part of the Crystal River system originating
in King's Bay, a first-magnitude spring flowing to the Gulf of Mexico.
PHIL STASIK
Manatee bones litter a spoil island in Indian River Lagoon where poor water quality is destroying the food source for the sea cows.
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