Sea Cows on the Verge of Death

Ft. Lauderdale, Florida: warm weather and huge underwater cows are brought to mind right? Have you ever thought of these luxurious, majestic creatures rapidly starving themselves to death? On the south coast of Florida, about 80 manatees are in rehabilitation centers scattered around the state. Curt Anderson reports “More than 80 rescued Florida manatees are in rehabilitation centers across the U.S. as wildlife officials try to stem starvation deaths by the marine mammals because of poor water quality.” (Sun Sentinel) The state of Florida has donated about 1.2 million dollars to the treatment of these fascinating sea cows. Other sites in states such as Texas, Ohio, and Puerto Rico are contributing to the cause as well. These manatees are being treated in the SeaWorld rescue program and 13 other wildlife protective services to make sure that they are receiving the nutrition they need in order to survive. Sea grass, the food manatees usually consume during the frigid months, is slowly vanishing. The cause is primarily due to polluted water from agricultural fertilizer. Anderson declared, “Last year, more than 1,100 manatee deaths were recorded largely due to starvation...” (Sun Sentinel) These deaths have very little to do with boat accidents. Investigational feeding programs are continuing to use romaine lettuce in order to get manatees to eat. Jon Wallace of the U.S. The Fish and Wildlife Service says, “As of Tuesday, more than 63,000 pounds of lettuce has been provided to the manatees...”  The creatures used to be endangered by the federal government but now, it is extremely important to keep these animals alive by reporting any ill or distressed manatees, because they are fighting for their lives. 

Works cited: 

Anderson, Curt (2022, February 25) More than 80 starving manatees in rehab across US, officials say. Sun Sentinel, pg 8