As Florida braces for a cold snap, wildlife experts are concerned about the state’s struggling manatees. Florida’s manatees are already starving because their preferred food, seagrass, is being smothered by algae encouraged by nutrient pollution. Arctic air approaching South Florida this weekend could put an even greater strain on the marine mammals. “This is really […]
Florida’s manatees are in trouble, so much trouble that wildlife officials are considering an unprecedented intervention — feeding them. It is currently illegal to feed manatees, which are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and the Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act of 1978. However, so many manatees […]
Manatees are majestic creatures, and their presence near Florida brings a lot of awe from locals and tourists alike. But worsening pollution from agricultural runoff, wastewater and other pollutants is causing one of their primary food sources — seagrass — to run scarce. By October 2021 alone, nearly 1,000 manatees have died from food scarcity. […]
We’ve all heard about SpongeBob SquarePants, the mischievous yellow sponge cartoon character who lives in a pineapple on the seafloor. Now, meet Bobbie “Sponge Bobbie” Renfro, a Ph.D. candidate at Florida State University in biological sciences and coral reef ecology, with a specialty in sponges, naturally! Quirky naming coincidences aside, her research is anything but […]
Will we find corals’ white knights in spiny armor? The question is one that Florida scientists and ocean advocates are eager to answer ー and using lobsters to do so. The coral reefs in Florida are in trouble. With the climate crisis, warming and acidifying ocean waters, poor water quality and a rampant, mystery coral […]
By Julia Conley Conservation advocates in Florida are warning that 1,000 manatees in the state’s water could die this year — hundreds more than in recent years — due to starvation driven by water pollution, the climate crisis, and other man-made harms to the mammals’ ecosystem. As The Guardian reported Monday, 749 manatees died between […]
By Elizabeth Djinis Florida has long been known as an environmental contradiction. It’s mostly a peninsula at risk from the severe impacts of climate change, including rising seas, warming temperatures, and worsening extreme-weather events; yet it’s also a state governed by Republican leaders who have refused to even publicly utter the words “climate change.” When […]
By Jake Johnson Environmentalists and Florida residents voiced concern and outrage Monday as state government officials and the biotechnology giant Oxitec announced plans to move ahead this week with a pilot project that involves releasing up to a billion genetically engineered mosquitoes in Monroe County over a two-year period. Presented by local authorities as an […]
By Larry Brand Millions of gallons of water laced with fertilizer ingredients are being pumped into Florida’s Tampa Bay from a leaking reservoir at an abandoned phosphate plant at Piney Point. As the water spreads into the bay, it carries phosphorus and nitrogen – nutrients that under the right conditions can fuel dangerous algae blooms […]