Red Tide Lingers And Unusual Deaths Continue
Your Help Is Needed To Provide Care and Research
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Above, a red-tide affected manatee receives round the clock care by Lowry Park Zoo staff to prevent drowning due to seizures. (Photo by Courtney Edwards, Save the Manatee Club)
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While the levels of red tide in southwest Florida have finally begun to subside, manatees are still not in the clear yet. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), all of the recent water samples in that area contained either no red tide or very low concentrations. In addition, the number of manatee deaths from red tide has finally begun to level off, as there have been no deaths from that cause over the past few weeks. This is very good news. However, the seagrass and other plants in those areas are still contaminated with red tide, posing a continuing but reduced threat to manatees and other wildlife that eat or live among the seagrasses.
As you may recall, the red tide bloom has persisted in southwest Florida since September 2012. To date, at least 267 manatees in southwest Florida have died from exposure to red tide in 2013, with an additional 33 manatee deaths from this cause in 2012. Already in 2013, there has been unprecedented manatee mortality, with more than 585 deaths as of May 3rd. Red tide acts as a neurotoxin in manatees, giving them seizures that can result in drowning without human intervention. Thankfully, if manatees exposed to red tide can be moved out of the affected area by trained biologists and stabilized at a critical care facility, their prognosis is very good. Remember to call 1-888-404-3922 IMMEDIATELY if you see a manatee that may be suffering from red tide exposure or any other injury.
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Cheer, Redlee, and Threepio, three manatees recuperating from red tide exposure, rest in the "fish bowl" at the Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. Another manatee named Coolio, injured by a watercraft collision, is also recovering at the park. Save the Manatee Club made an immediate commitment to ensure the manatees would have enough food once they were transferred to the park. (Photo © Patrick M. Rose, Save the Manatee Club)
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Fortunately, many manatees had been found alive, suffering from red tide toxicity, and successfully rescued and transported to a critical care facility. Although these red-tide-affected manatees have now been stabilized, they still cannot be released back into their home waters, as they could again become infected with red tide by eating the seagrass. However, space is needed at the critical care facilities to accommodate new red tide victims and manatees suffering from cold stress, watercraft strikes, or other ailments.
The Manatee Rehabilitation Partnership (MRP), of which SMC is a charter member, has moved several now-healthy manatees to secondary care facilities until the red tide subsides completely and they can be released. This is where we need your help. With so many manatees currently in rehabilitation, funds are needed to feed and care for them.
In addition to the red-tide situation, there is another threat that is claiming manatee lives on the state's east coast in Brevard County. A large number of manatees have died of unknown but presumed natural causes, possibly from a different toxin or toxic syndrome, in Brevard since 2012. With vast amounts of Brevard's seagrass wiped out from a huge die off, it is unknown if manatees may be accessing other food sources or contaminants that are making them sick and killing them. With your support, we are currently funding efforts to better understand and, if possible, correct what is killing these manatees on the east coast, but more help is needed.
Clearly, Florida's manatees continue to need your help. Please make a donation to our Emergency Rescue Fund today (use giving code PT413) so we can be equipped to help manatees anytime and anywhere that help is needed.
Sincerely,
Patrick Rose
Aquatic Biologist, Executive Director
Save the Manatee Club
P.S. Read an op-ed from Katie Tripp, SMC's Director of Science and Conservation, on why these ongoing threats make manatee recovery tenuous.>> |
