A record number of manatees were spotted basking in shallow Florida waterways over the weekend – marking a promising turn for the endangered species.
Officials counted 932 manatees swimming Sunday at a spot in Blue Spring State Park, a warm sanctuary for the mammals located 30 miles north of Orlando.
That number broke the park’s previous record of 736 manatees seen at the scene in one day, last New Year’s Day, park officials announced.
Exciting pictures of the record-breaking morning show featured dozens of manatees enjoying the crystal clear water surrounded by the lush foliage of the sanctuary’s gardens.
An underwater live-stream camera caught dozens of others hiding below the surface, but high winds made it difficult — and possibly impossible — to count every manatee swimming in the waterway.
“There’s a very good chance that many more came in, clustered together so we couldn’t identify them,” the Save the Manatee Club said.
Officials counted 932 manatees swimming Sunday in the mid-spring run at Blue Spring State Park. Facebook/Blue Spring State Park
The record was set on what officials described as “the coldest morning of the season.” The temperature of the St. Nearby John is a relatively chilly 58.8 degrees, prompting nearly 1,000 manatees to seek warmth in the park’s waters, which run at a constant 72 degrees year-round.
Manatees congregate in shallow waters from mid-November to March because they cannot tolerate water temperatures colder than 68 degrees for long periods of time.
The marine mammal has only about an inch of fat and is prone to cold stress syndrome, which is “comparable to hypothermia, pneumonia or frostbite in humans and can make them very sick,” according to Blue Spring State Park.
Manatees flock to the constant 72-degree spring run whenever the river temperature drops below 68 degrees. TNS The record was set on what officials described as “the coldest morning of the season.” YouTube/Explore the Ocean That total broke the park’s previous record for manatees seen swimming in the spring run in one day, set just a few weeks earlier. Facebook/Blue Spring State Park Manatees are considered an endangered species. AP
Manatees, considered an endangered species, have been slowly recovering in numbers.
More than 550 manatees died in Florida in 2023 from boating accidents, disease and starvation. But that’s down from the 1,027 that died in 2021, state Fish and Wildlife data show.
Their numbers are now so promising that wildlife officials suspended a two-year experimental feeding program in December, after finding that the seagrasses the manatees depend on have begun to recover in key winter foraging areas on the east coast and there appear to be fewer manatees. in weak physical condition entering the stressful cold months.
The starvation problem has been traced to nitrogen, phosphorus and sewage pollution from agriculture, urban runoff and other sources that trigger algal blooms, which in turn kill the seagrasses on which manatees and other sea creatures depend.
The total Florida manatee population is estimated to be between 8,350 and 11,730 animals.
With Postal wire
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
