Florida manatees, particularly those in the 156-mile-long Indian River Lagoon that stretches from the Ponce de León Inlet up to Cape Canaveral, have been dying in record numbers as pollution destroys their food supply. But this year, in an experiment to save them, federal and state wildlife officials (helped by $116,000 donations from the public) have been feeding them lettuce, lots of lettuce.
It turns out the slow-moving mammals love the stuff. In the first three months of this year, they ate 202,000 pounds of lettuce, including romaine. And during those months, January, February and March, manatee deaths fell to 479, down from 612 in the same period last year.
Manatees, which have become iconic mammals in Florida, live to be 50 to 60 years old in the wild. An adult manatee is ten feet long and weighs 1,000 pounds. They usually swim just below the surface, making them susceptible to boat strikes, at 3 to 5 mph, although they can sprint (for a manatee) up to 20 mph for a brief time.
A lot of them gather in the long estuary of the Indian River Lagoon in the winter, feasting on the delicate sea grass as their diet. But runoff from fertilizer and septic tanks and other pollutants have destroyed that food supply.
The water in the Indian River Lagoon that used to be crystal clear is now brown. Not much grows on the bottom. It seems that the ecosystem has collapsed. The decision to feed the manatees lettuce dumped from pallets seemed like a last-ditch effort, although some marine scientists think it may be too little, too late.
Meanwhile, other large groups of manatees spent the winter 70 miles north, in Blue Spring off the St. Johns River, where they seem to be finding more food. In all of last year, 1,100 Florida manatees died. About 7,500 are left. Read more:
