The WFSU Ecology Blog
  • Home
    • About
    • EcoAdventures
      • Kayak and Canoe Adventures
      • Hiking
      • Wildlife Watching
    • Observations From the Field
      • White Pelicans Visit Dr. Charles L. Evans Pond in Tallahassee
      • An April Walk at Ochlockonee River WMA
      • Nesting Raptors at Honeymoon Island State Park
    • WFSU Public Media Home
  • Documentaries
    • EcoCitizen Show | Seasons in South Tallahassee
    • Red Wolf Family Celebrates First Year at the Tallahassee Museum
    • Roaming the Red Hills
    • Oyster Doctors
    • Testing the Ecology of Fear
    • EcoShakespeare
    • Stories from the Apalachicola
    • Classic WFSU Ecology Documentaries
  • Habitats
    • Estuaries
      • Oyster Reef
        • The Effects of Predators and Fear on Oyster Reefs
        • Apalachicola Oyster Research
        • Animal Species in a North Florida Intertidal Oyster Reef
        • Oyster Reef Ecology | On the Reef
      • Salt Marsh
        • In the Grass- Salt Marsh Biodiversity Study
        • Plants and Animals of a North Florida Salt Marsh
        • Salt Marsh Ecology | In the Grass
      • Seagrass Bed
        • Predatory Snails, and Prey, of the Bay Mouth Bar Seagrass Beds
      • In the Grass, On the Reef Glossary
    • Waterways Big and Small
      • Aucilla/ Wacissa Watershed
      • Apalachicola Basin
        • Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines | Virtual Field Trip
        • The Age of Nature Screening & Discussion | The Future of the Apalachicola
        • Apalachicola River and Bay
        • Apalachicola RiverTrek | Kayaking, Camping, & Hiking the River Basin
    • Longleaf Pine & Fire Ecology
  • Backyard Habitat
    • Backyard Blog
      • The Backyard Bug Blog 2018
      • Backyard Blog January 2019
      • Backyard Blog February 2019
      • Backyard Blog March 2019
      • Backyard Blog May 2019
      • Backyard Blog April 2019
      • Backyard Blog June 2019
      • Backyard Blog July 2019
      • Backyard Blog August 2019
      • Backyard Blog September 2019
      • Backyard Blog October through December 2019
      • Backyard Blog January 2020
      • Backyard Blog February and March 2020
      • Backyard Blog April 2020
      • Backyard Blog May 2020
      • Backyard Blog June 2020
      • July and August 2020 Backyard Blog
      • Backyard Blog September/ October 2020
      • Backyard Blog November/ December 2020
      • Backyard Ecology Blog | 2021
    • Backyard Flora and Fauna
      • Bees of North Florida and South Georgia
      • The Seasonality of Bees (and Bee Plants) in North Florida
      • Woody Vines of North Florida
      • Flies of North Florida are More Diverse than You’d Think
      • The Case for Weeds, Our Unsung Florida Native Plants
      • Devil’s Walkingstick: Your New Favorite Thorny Pollinator Plant?
      • Florida Native Milkweed | Tips for Growing Your Monarch Friendly Garden
      • Mistletoe | A Parasite for the Holidays (But Maybe We Like it Anyway?)
    • Florida Friendly Seasonal Planting Guide
    • Pollinator and Gardening Posts
    • Gardening Web Resources
Kayak and Canoe Adventures
RiverTrek 2021: Five Days on the Apalachicola River
Lower Lake Lafayette: Kayak Tallahassee’s Hidden Swamp
Chipola River Paddling Trail | The Ovens and...
Kayaking Bald Point | Adventure on a Living...
Wacissa Springs Adventure | Kayaking a Wild Florida...
A Geologist’s View of the Apalachicola River |...
Upper Chipola River Kayak Adventure | Ghosts &...
Tate’s Hell & the Apalachicola River Delta |...
Kayak Scouting Mission on the Ochlockonee Water Trail
Merritt’s Mill Pond | Kayaking and Spring Caves

The WFSU Ecology Blog

  • Home
    • About
    • EcoAdventures
      • Kayak and Canoe Adventures
      • Hiking
      • Wildlife Watching
    • Observations From the Field
      • White Pelicans Visit Dr. Charles L. Evans Pond in Tallahassee
      • An April Walk at Ochlockonee River WMA
      • Nesting Raptors at Honeymoon Island State Park
    • WFSU Public Media Home
  • Documentaries
    • EcoCitizen Show | Seasons in South Tallahassee
    • Red Wolf Family Celebrates First Year at the Tallahassee Museum
    • Roaming the Red Hills
    • Oyster Doctors
    • Testing the Ecology of Fear
    • EcoShakespeare
    • Stories from the Apalachicola
    • Classic WFSU Ecology Documentaries
  • Habitats
    • Estuaries
      • Oyster Reef
        • The Effects of Predators and Fear on Oyster Reefs
        • Apalachicola Oyster Research
        • Animal Species in a North Florida Intertidal Oyster Reef
        • Oyster Reef Ecology | On the Reef
      • Salt Marsh
        • In the Grass- Salt Marsh Biodiversity Study
        • Plants and Animals of a North Florida Salt Marsh
        • Salt Marsh Ecology | In the Grass
      • Seagrass Bed
        • Predatory Snails, and Prey, of the Bay Mouth Bar Seagrass Beds
      • In the Grass, On the Reef Glossary
    • Waterways Big and Small
      • Aucilla/ Wacissa Watershed
      • Apalachicola Basin
        • Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines | Virtual Field Trip
        • The Age of Nature Screening & Discussion | The Future of the Apalachicola
        • Apalachicola River and Bay
        • Apalachicola RiverTrek | Kayaking, Camping, & Hiking the River Basin
    • Longleaf Pine & Fire Ecology
  • Backyard Habitat
    • Backyard Blog
      • The Backyard Bug Blog 2018
      • Backyard Blog January 2019
      • Backyard Blog February 2019
      • Backyard Blog March 2019
      • Backyard Blog May 2019
      • Backyard Blog April 2019
      • Backyard Blog June 2019
      • Backyard Blog July 2019
      • Backyard Blog August 2019
      • Backyard Blog September 2019
      • Backyard Blog October through December 2019
      • Backyard Blog January 2020
      • Backyard Blog February and March 2020
      • Backyard Blog April 2020
      • Backyard Blog May 2020
      • Backyard Blog June 2020
      • July and August 2020 Backyard Blog
      • Backyard Blog September/ October 2020
      • Backyard Blog November/ December 2020
      • Backyard Ecology Blog | 2021
    • Backyard Flora and Fauna
      • Bees of North Florida and South Georgia
      • The Seasonality of Bees (and Bee Plants) in North Florida
      • Woody Vines of North Florida
      • Flies of North Florida are More Diverse than You’d Think
      • The Case for Weeds, Our Unsung Florida Native Plants
      • Devil’s Walkingstick: Your New Favorite Thorny Pollinator Plant?
      • Florida Native Milkweed | Tips for Growing Your Monarch Friendly Garden
      • Mistletoe | A Parasite for the Holidays (But Maybe We Like it Anyway?)
    • Florida Friendly Seasonal Planting Guide
    • Pollinator and Gardening Posts
    • Gardening Web Resources

Florida wildlife leaders are mulling long-term solutions to save the manatees

by December 16, 2021
by December 16, 2021 0 comment

Wildlife officials said Wednesday an infusion of projects to improve water quality is a good start, as they seek to avoid a recurrence of large numbers of manatee deaths due to a lack of seagrass and degraded water in the Indian River Lagoon.

With state and federal wildlife officials planning to feed starving manatees in the coming months, members of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission pointed to a need for more long-term solutions, such as the $53 million that Gov. Ron DeSantis directed toward the lagoon in September.

“While we’re dealing with the manatee mortality event, which is a symptom, we’ve got to also focus on the cure of water-quality improvement, especially in the Indian River Lagoon,” Fish and Wildlife Commission member Michael Sole, a former secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, said during a commission meeting in Destin.

Sole said DeSantis’ funding, which is expected to address 13 water issues involving the lagoon, “is essential to really solving some of this issue. But I think it’s going to take more. I think it’s going to take a continued focus on addressing that.”

Commission Chairman Rodney Barreto said the agency needs to put all resources, including the unconventional plan to feed manatees, into the effort, as “the eyes of the world are on us.”

The commission and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have set up a Joint Incident Management Team to respond to the “unusual mortality event,” mostly along the state’s Atlantic coast. Through Dec. 3, Florida had 1,038 manatee deaths this year.

The record number of deaths, along with a single-year high in manatee rescues, have slowed in recent months as waters remained warm and the sea cows were able to expand their searches for food.

However, Gil McRae, director of the commission’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, said officials expect manatees to again congregate in the lagoon as water temperatures drop from the current 72 degrees to 68 degrees or lower in the coming months.

“Our concern is the combination of available forage not being there in some areas, especially in the central and northern Indian River Lagoon, and manatees aggregating in large numbers at warm water sites. That’s where we run into trouble,” McRae said. “So, the longer it stays warmer, the more distributed the manatees will be. And that’s likely to keep down rescues and mortalities for the short term. But we’re preparing for January and February potentially being much colder.”

In 2017, manatees were upgraded from an “endangered” designation to “threatened” under the federal Endangered Species Act, with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service pointing to an increase in the manatee population and habitat improvements because of conservation efforts by Florida, Puerto Rico, Caribbean nations and public and private organizations.

The number of deaths this year is estimated to be about one-sixth of the population of manatees in the waters of the southeastern United States and Puerto Rico.

Travis Thompson, a conservationist and podcaster, asked the commission if the state was “near a carrying capacity in this state with manatees.”

“When we look back, historically, are there more manatees in the current incarnation, in the last five years or so? Did we reach a peak in manatee population?” Thompson said.

“We talked about water quality. Feeding manatees feels kind of funny to many folks in the conservation space,” Thompson continued. “Because it feels like we’re putting a Band-Aid on something. And we’re not treating the symptom. And I realize you guys are not in control of the symptom.”

The water quality funding from DeSantis in September is expected to eliminate more than 3,000 septic tanks and upgrade water-treatment facilities, while reducing the release of nitrogen and phosphorus into waterways.

As part of his proposed $99.7 billion budget for next fiscal year, DeSantis has asked for $125 million for a wastewater grant program, $50 million to meet nutrient-reduction goals and $3.8 million for the care and management of manatees. The proposed manatee funding includes $2.9 million to treat injured and distressed manatees.

In October, the commission said it would seek nearly $7 million from lawmakers as part of long-term goals to rebuild seagrass beds and wean manatees from artificial warm-water sites, including areas near power plants, that attract the sea cows in the winter. The 2022 legislative session starts Jan. 11 and will include passing a budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1.

Commissioner Gary Nicklaus said Wednesday that “we need to make sure that we focus on the cause, the upstream cause, because everything downstream happens from what happens upstream.”

The current year’s budget includes $8 million to improve manatee habitat and access to Florida’s natural springs. The commission has five years to use the money.

Facebook Comments
This story originally appeared on WFSU News. For more news from WFSU, please visit news.wfsu.org.

WFSU News
0 comment
0
FacebookTwitterGoogle +Pinterest

previous post
Florida could adopt tech to curb algal blooms under bill moving forward in the legislature
next post
FEMA approves $2.8M for Robinson Bayou project in Panama City

Search

Subscribe

Subscribe to receive more outdoor adventures, and an in depth look at our local forests and waterways by Email.

If you do not receive a verification e-mail, check your spam folder.

Category

WFSU-FM Environmental Stories

  • St. Francis Wildlife in Gadsden County needs volunteers to help with rescued animals
  • Florida’s insurer of last resort surpasses 1 million policies
  • The North Florida Wildlife Center in Jefferson County welcomes a giant anteater
  • Florida offers a stopgap measure amid concerns about downgrades of property insurance companies
  • Florida finalizes a land deal in the Panhandle for the state wildlife corridor

Twitter

Tweets by wfsuIGOR

iNaturalist

iNaturalist became a part of the WFSU Ecology Blog during the EcoCitizen Project in 2019.  Since then, we’ve used it to help identify the many plants and animals we see on our shoots.  And on the Backyard Blog, we show how it can be used to identify weeds and garden insects, to help figure out what’s beneficial or a possible pest.  Below is the iNaturalist profile belonging to WFSU Ecology producer Rob Diaz de Villegas.

iNaturalist.org

Thumb
View robdv’s observations »

My Garden of a Thousand Bees | NOW STREAMING

PBS Nature: My Garden of a Thousand Bees

NOW STREAMING

My Garden of a Thousand Bees features renowned wildlife filmmaker Martin Dohrn, who, with the world in lockdown during the summer of 2020, turned his exceptional macrophotography filmmaking skills on his own tiny backyard and the surprising number of wild bee species that live there.

Most Recent

  • Kids Release Striped Newts, Host a Video About It
  • Newly Discovered Crustacean Species Found Only in Lake Jackson
  • Propagating Joy | Finding Love in Gifts and Discarded Nature
  • Latest Indigo Snake Release the Largest at Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve
  • Frosted Flatwoods Salamanders: Recovery, Redundancy, and Fire

Archives

August 2022
M T W T F S S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031  
« Jul    

WFSU Ecology YouTube

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Flickr
  • Youtube

@2017 - PenciDesign. All Right Reserved. Designed and Developed by PenciDesign

test title

this is the info in my test popup.