Florida has passed a grim milestone in 2021 , having learn moremanateedeaths in the first six months of 2021 than in any other year on criminal record . Between January 1 to July 2 , 2021 , the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission ( FFWCC ) has time 841manatee deaths . The premature record was cover in 2013 when an outbreak of scarlet lunar time period – an algal bloom that can be deadly to nautical wildlife – is think to have chip in to the death of 830 manatees .
While boat strikes are a considerable terror to manatee , having killed at least 63 this year according to a report fromNPR , it ’s cogitate that starvation has played a bigger role in the disc - breaking mortality upshot . TCPalmreports that the majority of Trichechus manatus death reports come from the Indian River Lagoon and its surrounding domain . Exactly why this country is likely so venomous for these nautical mammals is n’t yet percipient , but some suspect it ’s the result of contamination destroying vital food source .
“ Unprecedented manatee mortality due to starving was document on the Atlantic coast this retiring winter and bounce , ” allege the FFWCC , reported by theGuardian . “ Most deaths occurred during the colder month when Trichechus manatus migrated to and through the Indian River Lagoon , where the majority of seagrass has die off . ”
on the button what ’s to find fault for the demolition of seagrass could be a combination of factor , but algal bloom are once again a suspect . TCPalmreports that 16 environmental groups have banded together to form a coalition place on deal the ecologic crisis they trust to be unfolding in the Indian River Lagoon . In a letter to Governor Ron DeSantis , they exhort that contaminants have pushed the ecosystem beyond a precondition that can keep going maritime life .
" The evidence is overwhelming and undisputable , " say the varsity letter , " that the Indian River Lagoon , one of the most biodiverse estuaries in North America , has become an insalubrious , alga - overshadow ecosystem . "
Algal blooms can be set off when sure chemicals are unblock into the water supply , most often from human stock . Fertilizers are a coarse culprit , leaking from the ground into waterways where they trigger off a prime that can sap the aquatic ecosystem of oxygen , killing plants and animals through a process get it on as eutrophication . Chemical contaminants can also affect wildlife through change their behaviour , as was demonstrate by the late discoveries as to whatantidepressantsandmethamphetaminecan do tocrayfishandtrout .
