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Subscribe to RSSFlorida state officials are finding as many as ten dead manatees a day, which experts say is nothing short of a catastrophe, killed by a deadly algae known as the red tide that has infested their winter migration waters. NBC's Mark Potter reports.
An outbreak of paralyzing algae known as red tide is killing manatees by the dozens in Florida.
Florida wildlife officials report that 149 of the gentle giants have been killed by red tide this year in just two and a half months, making it almost certain that the state will pass the record of 151, set in 1996.
The bloom of algae this year covers a 70-mile stretch of the west coast of Florida, roughly from Sarasota to Fort Myers. That makes it particularly dangerous for the blimp-shaped, endangered mammals because they congregate in the warm water there for winter.
The algae contain a toxin that can stop the breathing of manatees when they eat it, and particles seep into sea grass, which manatees also eat. So the killing will probably continue for two months after the red tide dissipates.
“They’re basically paralyzed, and they’re comatose,” Virginia Edmonds, animal care manager of Florida mammals for the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, told the Tampa Bay Times. “They could drown in 2 inches of water.”
Eleven manatees, often called sea cows, have been rescued and taken to the zoo for treatment this year. Workers there take three-hour shifts standing in a water tank and holding a manatee’s head out of the water so it can breathe until it recovers and can breathe on its own.
“We just keep taking them in,” Edmonds told the newspaper. “We want to save as many as we can.”
The algae develop naturally, and when water temperature, salt content and nutrients are just right, they can bloom in an outbreak that turns the water reddish-brown. Red tide develops all over the world, including off California and throughout the Gulf of Mexico.
Scientists say some studies have linked red tide to global warming because algae thrive in warmer water.
Adult manatees average about 10 feet long and glide through the water, steering with their flippers, at about 5 mph. They have to come to the surface every few minutes to breathe.
Florida has an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 manatees. The most common cause of death is not red tide but collisions with boats, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Watercraft killed almost 800 manatees from 1995 to 2005.
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Oh the humanatee!
(but seriously, poor manatees D:)
the description of "end times" in the bible reads an awful lot like what happens to the planet when it gets too warm, you know... like Global Warming?
Don't tell me you think God's killing the manatees now
I'm more shocked that someone linked biblical prophecy and global warming. It won't be long until Christians are blamed for global warming now.
If God is responsible, God is an a--h--e! Always finding some reason to destroy something. Limbaugh's right there if anyone deserves your wrath! Leave the manatees alone!
Nothing in the Bible is scientifically valid. Nothing! It was written by ignorants (no fault of their own) thousands of years ago. Revelations was written about Rome in specific, by a madman banished by the Roman authorities. It has no validity either.
in the middle-2260511
That had me laughing. But you are right. Republicans, Christians, Islams, Muslims, oil companies, anyone and everyone will be blamed. People have quit living life and just try to find blame in everything. I prefer to blame everything on Extremists, Congress and the President, but can not find a correlation for this incident yet. LMAO.
I do applaud the Senator Rand Paul for his filibuster last week. It made me remember the movie, "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington". It was good to see Congress actions in public.
I do wish I could do more to help the Manatees. I am not sure I believe in global warming, but I do know there are a lot of things humans do that hurt nature. I do not live near the coast or I would be out there trying to help the manatees. Take care to all and have a great week.
God's not killing the manatees. We are.
Numb3rTech, if you truly are what you claim in your handle, here are the stats: out of 13,950 peer-reviewed climate articles from 1991-2012, only 24 reject global warming.
http://www.desmogblog.com/2012/11/15/why-climate-deniers-have-no-credibility-science-one-pie-chart
Take a look at this pie chart. There is no denying that we are at fault.
Peridot -
Perhaps you could have found a source a little more to the center, like maybe the Communist Manifesto.
The issue is when the red tide strikes in new territory, NOT when it strikes in it's normal warm-water areas. In Seal Beach, California back in the 60's and 70's, a new power plant started dumping it's "innocent" warmed water into the ocean... we lost virtually all fishing in the area to the red tide that developed and the area never recovered. What used to be a full assortment of fish and shellfish is now down to a few mackerel.
So when I hear about the red tide and hear that it's just a "natural" occurrence associated with warmer waters or that "God" did it, I say "look around"... it's likely that there's a new source. If it's global warming, get ready... this crap kills.
Climate change.
When I read an article like this about the Manatees or any other aquatic mammal it is tough for us to take. Our company has a technology that would help. We have over 50 installations in the world controlling fish movement, sea lion activities and many other species. Because of the bureaucracies that exist within NOAA, US Fish and Wildlife we must sit on the sidelines and watch these tragedies unfold.
I know this sounds like a plug of our company but we are a small group of scientist and engineers in an employee owned company that has nearly 50yrs. of experience in these application.
We just can't afford the lobbyist that bigger companies employ so we just set on the sideline and watch.
So sad!
VOX - THAT was the most ignorant statement I have ever read. Brah, many things in the Bible have been proven for all of time, but blind folk such as yourself seem to miss the call. Not only have there been numerous scrolls found, but artifacts such as former housing and the tomb have been found as well. I love how people insult God but he is the only one that have given you a chance of life. Bite off the hand that feed and I am afraid it will be a rude awakening for you.
@ voxrationis - just add to that statement that all the Bible writers were men.
Can't think of a more sweet ocean creature to hate on enough to give them that kind of death. They never bother or hurt anyone and don't even really eat fish. But the only thing they do eat - poisons them - so go figure.
"Gods wonderful glorious Plan" at work. Not at all understanding why the anti global warmer CEO's paying Lobbyists aren't getting hit instead of these innocent creatures.
Sad to read. Capt. Jack took us on a dolphin cruise out of St. John's Pass last summer; and we were blessed enough to see what the crew claimed to be the largest herd of "sea cows" they had ever seen in the wild. Very gentle, very strange creatures. Beautiful and graceful in a silly looking package. Will hate to see them reduced to extinction. One took a dump so big it looked like the boat was on a brown oil slick! Thanks to all on board that day. See you soon!
Whew ... I feel much better now. I thought because I peed in the Halifax River 10 years ago was the problem? Thank God it wasn't my fault ... Unless over time, my urine turned into a new type of killer algae?
OK folks, either you are an atheist, agnostic or a Christian, Muslim,or whatever. Let's not get drawn off this particular subject. The Manatee are beautiful creatures. If we are causing red tide in Florida we need to find out how. We need to prevent this.
One idea that jumped out at me was to lay a large, 24 or 36 inch, plastic pipe out to deeper colder water and pump it to the surface along the shore. It would lower the water temperature and circulate the water away from land and the manatee. I'm sure there are other answers. This seems overly simple. I am probably missing something. Wind driven generators powering electric pumps. Does this sound like an answer to anyone else. I'll donate $1,000. dollars to a project to pull the colder water to the shore.
Think about it. There has got to be a way to change the red tide near the Manatee. There is cold water in abundance just off shore. If you don't believe me go scuba diving. Sometimes keeping the answer simple is the best way. If anyone has a better answer then please speak up. I'm not above praying for an answer. Sometimes though God just wants us to use our big heads instead of the little one.
JUST SAYING.
Bigdaddy -
No offense but do you realize how absolutely enormous the ocean is? That may be the most impractical resolution I have heard to anything.
If global warming was really the issue then wouldn't the manatees just be moving North ahead of the red tide? Red tide can be caused by many factors, we get it all the time up here in the Northeast and our water temps top off around 70degrees, Florida certainly has had warmer waters than it does right now in March.
They are building on a terrific pace along the coast here and the sewer systems are not adequate to hold the pollutants which in turn when released into the Gulf causes the alge to grom which is known as the Red Tide. This alge is so bad it kills a great number of fish and it makes it impossible to breath when you are on the shore line. Politicians better get their collective heads out of the sand and get this under control as the beaches are being ruined and the aquatic species are being destroyed.
Mr. Binkie:
NO!!!!!! GLOBAL WARMING.
I am SICK AND TIRED of the GOP RE-BRANDING EVIL to make is sound less, well, EVIL. Like Bush calling the "pave the wilderness act" the "HEALTHY FOREST INITIATIVE".
LIES, LIES, LIES.
Global WARMING could very easily KILL OFF ALL HUMAN LIFE and the GOP and the other IDIOTS shilling for their CORPORATE OVERLORDS just ignore facts and stick their heads in the sand. Morons. Evil, corporate shill morons, that is ALL the GOP is.
SRS -
Have you ever looked in the mirror after posting a post like that and wondered why your face is twitching so much?
Hint, it's because you're insane.
These comments make an individual want to vomit. They only go to show how stupid has run wild in this country. I laugh at you all.
First - these are gentle creatures that have suffered (as most creatures have) at the hands of humans.
Secondly - we need to stand up and take the blame that we are all guilty of.
And last but not least - we need to do all that we can to help and save them.
If we truly are the most intelligent beings on this Earth (an idea I have truble buying into) then it is our responsibility to care for all living things.
It is awful They are the most gentle creatures. Very sad.
They need to find something new to eat.
You could say... oh the poor manatee, or you could say, thank goodness the algae are thriving!
Everyone here rooting for the organism with a face to survive?
Mymomdidnotraiseafool: ahh.... Yes she did. Who's going to teach them to eat something new. You?
As if idiots in boats don't slice them up enough. Poor creatures. Anything that depends on mankind to survive is doomed. We can't trash this planet fast enoughn for some.
@Mymomdidnotraiseafool
Your mother clearly did so. Manatees have evolved over millions of years to eat sea grasses. They are the cattle of the sea, grazing on grass is what their digestive systems are developed to do. Evolution is slow. Human beings are changing the environment so quickly other creatures are going extinct rather than evolving to adjust. That's what we do: kill off other species. There are many that have died off because of us, some rapidly, some slowly.
We are causing mass extinctions. Look it up. It's happening now with shark species. More tigers live in zoos now than live in the wild. Does this frighten you? It should do. Two species of poison frog are extinct in the wild, that happened at the end of the last century. That's right, 15 years ago.
It's the fault of human population growth destroying wildlife habitat. Loss of rain forest. Loss of African lands. Climate change causing warming of the ocean. If we don't stop it we will lose our own habitat.
I've always wondered how manatees have no natural predators?
I mean, they are slow, soft, and cant defend themselves. Curious as to why shark never developed a taste for them. They dont even get in defensive clusters like the land cattle do, or have any defensive weapons like horns or armor (???)
Peridot, so we never lost a species prior to human existence? Maybe we aren't supposed to be saving them, so others can thrive?
Researchers find new species all the time, how can that be if we are killing them all?
Oh, but the oil spill is cleaned up because they sent it to the bottom of the Gulf. I bet the manatee's if they could talk would say those billions of gallons that are down there is very sticky and grows horrible red algae that is killing them.
Funny how people forget.....
Chosen-7351967 educate yourself how in the hell do you think oil caused a red tide??? I live on Mississippi Gulf Coast on the beach basically there is no doubt BP screwed up with the oil spill we found lots of oil here in MS but oil isnt a fertilizer it doesnt cause anything to grow. If anything it kills plants and vegetation due to there being no sunlight reaching past the oil on bottom i know all of you people want to find someone to blame and look for somebody responsible but the damn truth is HUMANS DO NOT CAUSE RED TIDE theres no relation i think scientist now have enough equipment to find out what exactly is causing it and they have its an algae that blooms when the water warms up it happens every year somewhere along the Gulf Coast. Say your a heart doctor and im a teacher, you saying that oil is causing red tide is like me coming up to you and telling you whats causing strokes or heart attacks. ITS BEST THAT IF YOU DONT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT, DONT SAY ANYTHING AT ALL CUZ YOUR JUST GONNA MAKE YOURSELF LOOK REALLLLLLLY STUPID HAHA
@ Mark & Peridot: Trolling is pretty good today. Reeled in two twits with one cast. They even set the hook themselves! Bwahahahahahah! Now go wring your hands over something meaningful, like your general stupidity or your whining pedantry.
Gee, it couldn't have anything to do with the millions and millions of gallons of oil that BP put on the Gulf's Ocean floor could it?!? Oh I forgot, they cleaned all of that up because the commercial on TV says they did. SMH!!
Probably not since red tide has been around for ages. Educate yourself.
Given that red algae are phytoplankton or dinoflagellates, the answer is no Renee. In fact, an oil spill would actually be detrimental to it.
But don't let biology stop you from posting crazy.
Mitchell
BP caused a huge environmental disaster. There's no argument about that. However, the two issues are unrelated.
mpa,
I tend to agree that the Red Tide and the huge oils spill are likely not related, however I'll just point out that oil has been around for ages too.
How terrible! :(
The algae blooms are caused by too much nutrients in water from human activities.
That's terrible. I wonder how long it takes a manatee to recover if they are rescued. Anyone know how long it takes the toxin to clear them if they stop eating the poisonous algae? It must be a workable thing if they are rescuing them.
They are not eating the algae as a target food - they eat big underwater plants and inadvertently ingest some red algae in the process.
Hmmm, I've been to that area, "Blimp-shaped" doesn't necessarily limit mammal description to manatees.
Most of the retirees fit that description eh?
I think of red tide as a summer problem. Wow ! I guess it's like fire season, It's a winter thing now as well. Well, I guess the business plan for Florida is working ! The gubmint here wants to turn the entire peninsula into a giant condo. They are ripping down trees and pouring concrete as fast as is possible. All these people produce a bunch of "by-product" and it all ends up in the water, one way or another. Once in there it feeds algae, bacteria and slimy stuff. Guess we won't be satisfied until there are no animals left and people step out of the water looking like a critter from Sci-fi !
Seriously, you can't just put them in a partially submerged sling or something??
I bet I could build a solution in 15 minutes.
It's all about the volunteering effort, making a personal sacrifice, standing in water holding a poor critter's head up. Getting your photo taken saving the planet. See the other articles about the destruction of the animals in Antartica and the north pole. Nobody volunteering to stand in that water to help a critter - it's not Florida. Do any of these people want to pay to have better sewage treatment plants so the water stays cleaner and the animals don't get poisoned in the first place ? OH, heck no !
Irresponsible reporting to say these blooms are "natural". These are called Dead Zones and are created by humans. The use of chemical fertilizers on agricultural crops is considered the major cause of dead zones around the world. Just one more way we're screwing up the planet.
First documented case of red tide was 1793 in British Columbia, Canada. But rant on!
When the natural populations of manatees were high and unaffected by speed boats losses and human population pressure, they could overcome the occasional red tide losses. Now with people killing them with speedboats and jetskis the manatees have much lower numbers. They reproduce slowly and there are fewer of them.
Recently there have been reports of people riding them and picking them up out of the water. Wherever manatees congregate it's posted on signs that it's illegal to do more than to touch them with one open hand. Believe it or not, the Tea Party now has taken it upon itself to sue for the right to ride these endangered animals. Manatees are mammals and they can contract polio and other diseases from too much contact with human beings. I only hope that if these wackos succeed in their insanity that they are also forced to ride hungry alligators in addition to manatees. It seems fair that the alligators should be forced to share in the nuisance.
I'm pretty sure nitrogen and phosphorous (fertilizer) have been around since 1793, but rant on though
i do not follow the bible, but it is getting kinda creepy.. fish..birds..whales..and on and on!!i think we have hurt the earth and it is telling us it is sick, but we just go on with our life and not see the warning signs.. i think we have done permament damage to the earth.. and our days may be number. of course it will be to late for us when we do see it. today is a sad day.. i have seen the future and it is ugly. ready your selfs.. the time is near!!
Although I don't buy that the Bible was given to us by God, I have little doubt that some things described in the Bible were in fact describing some observed natural phenomena. The humans who wrote the Bible likely observed or heard stories about these events and assigned some divine intervention to explain them. Even earlier human populations did similar things. They even had specialized Gods who were in charge of certain events. Rituals and sacrifices were all about trying to please a God so as not to punished by these natural occurrences.
Things like Noahs flood probably occurred, but on a much smaller scale than they described it. Plagues were real events. Floods and droughts were real and maybe even the seas running red "with blood". Some of the things described in the end of times may actually have occurred at some small regional level. We just don't know but it is plausible for the most part when you take God out if it and concentrate on the basic description of events. Remember that at that time the world was a small place. Many natural events could easily wipe out a huge segment of society quite easily.
I'm sure it was not very comforting to know that these thing could happen and people could not explain why, so they made God the answer. They used God as insurance. Keep him happy and he won't kill you. But damn it of sometimes, no matter how hard you tried, your neighbors would mess it up for everybody. So the answer to that was to make them understand why it happened and they went out and tried to convert their evil ways. That task continues even today.
The fact that some natural phenomena can be associated with some biblical events, doesn't prove that the bible is true. It just says that man has been observing the things around him and looking for explanations, for a very long time. It is in our nature.
I believe that the writers of the Bible sometimes wrote about real things, but frequently took them and got creative for literary effect. They always found the explanation to ease the minds of a stunned society and of course that was all about God doing his thing to teach them lessons.
I don't see the Bible as predicting the future any more than history has a way of repeating itself. In biblical times, man was to blame for these things that happened, not by their impact on the balance of nature but because the violated the rule of God as told to them by other men.
Today however mankind is much larger and far more powerful. We can impact the balance of nature and we may very well be to blame for some of these events. It is just that we are also smarter today and we understand many of these natural phenomena to a far greater extent than they did then. We can make real impacts on the balance of nature and the wise among us are giving clear scientific explanations as opposed to assigning the causes to some divine intervention of an angry God.
I believe that ultimately man may very well be to blame for an "end of times", but not for the reasons the Bible teaches.
Now vacationers will be jumping in the water in FL to get their photo op for social media before the last manatee dies. After all, it's all about getting that recognition going- got to get into the limelight somehow. "Me me me!!"
Well, it would be a shame if the manatees all died before they had a chance to swim with me - I'm a wonderful creature.
Great Doug! Now maybe you & Snooki can start a new reality show- invite the Kardashians and it will be a trifecta!
Am I supposed to care?
at what point does the food chain break and threaten humans?
(i.e., if no other creature can survive in it what makes you think we can and when our food source is gone then what? flora, insects, fauna, humans...)
oh, that's right you're a repug, no explaining to you...just a faux news sheeple...you can't and won't believe in science, because then according to you (you'd have to give up your second amendment rights).
did you know that in china, there are no pollinating insects and that humans have to painstakingly pollinate every peice of flora in china because if they don't there is no flora, if there is no flora then there is no fauna, if there is no fauna there are no humans...
did you know that honey bees have been disappearing in the united states? they have named the disease but don't have a cause as of yet...
http://www.ars.usda.gov/News/docs.htm?docid=15572
how long before...
When you can't afford to buy food you may care then, RondoHatton. Hunger is a great persuader.
Congrats, Rondo. Hooked the same twit twice. Like a moth to a flame. Fish in a barrel. Bwahahahahahahahah! Oh, and boo-boo-hoo, Peridot. Why don't you go invest your energies in something with a greater chance of success, like heading off lemmings before they reach the cliff?
It's also nutrient enrichment of the water. You can't grow massive amounts of algae without nitrogen and phosphorous. Between the agriculture and the municipal effluent in Florida...
Massacre by algae....OMG, sounds like a new horror flick. Get that one made immediately.
We are the frogs sitting in the slowly boling water, not realizing our world is coming to an end. That's "our world", not Mother Natures world. She will continue on and humans will dies off. Simple.
Your world has already come to an end. You know, the delusional one with unicorns and rainbows everywhere, and where Darwin's laws have been negated. Everything dies off eventually. Every single thing. Not a thing you can do about it, and all the weeping, wailing, gnashing of teeth and rending of garments will never change the outcome.
Get boats out of the waterways. Stop building along them--it destroys the waterways. No fertilizer anywhere NEAR the waterways.
We are so selfish, childish, and stupid. I swear.
Good idea, I mean, we should just email our global trade. You can attach oil, food and sweaters to a gmail now, right?
most of those waterways are NOT COMMERICAL...
People these red tides have been killing long before humans got here, this is nature at work so stop with the "It's caused by man!" Nature has a nasty side that humans don't like just get over it!
Yeah, and fire has been around before humans got here, too. So when some arsonist lights your house on fire, just chalk it up to nature and get over it!
It's a dangerous planet for man or beast.
First documented red tide was in 1793 in British Columbia, Canada. But rant on, human haters!
RonB - Congrats on the most thought-less comment of the day.
RonB, Really? You live in the city or suburbs don't you?
mpa, Red tides are natural and happen all over the world.
Well, I certainly apologize to those heads above which my sarcasm sailed.
You call that sarcasm? Really? My, aren't we full of ourselves today!
This reminds me of the book Timescape by Gregory Benford. It tells of a time in the near future (from the author's writing) when man's wreaking havoc on the environment caused the explosive growth of algal blooms and ecological imbalance that threatened the entire globe. It did not have a happy ending...
Red Tide thrives from fertilizer run off.
As the CO2 level in the air increases crops will use it to grow faster and stronger. The CO2 will also make the crops more water efficient and more drought tolerant. This means that less artificial fertilizer will be needed.
So run off in the future will have less nutrients and Red Tide outbreaks might lessen.
How did I know that this would be blamed on global warming?
So true. The funny thing is that the global warming/climate change folks do not even keep up with the latest name---global climate disruption. As per the White House September, '09.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/09/16/white-house-global-warming-global-climate-disruption/
The manatees keep the canals clean and are a necessity in Florida. I do hope they can find a way to rescue them before they get into serious trouble, perhaps a relocation.
Global warming my gluteus maxi; red tides have been showing up since the last ice age - Portugese fishermen, fishing off the Grand Banks from after1492 reported red tides...it's as good a bet that this was responsible for killing many people in the costal areas prior to any visitations by Europeans, as it also killed many peoples across the globe in reported histories.
I am not certain of the math. If we are to believe the numbers in the article, then red tide kills approximately 150 a year and boats only kill an average of 90 a year.
are scientist totally sure this is global warming and not also Eutrophication, and the "dead zone" where the nutrients from our farm belt that leach into the water source and the river beds causes loss of oxygen in the gulf coast and other river basins?
"Scientists say some studies have linked red tide to global warming because algae thrive in warmer water."
What was Al Gore in on this article, Global warming is nothing but a hoax to get people to give the government more money hint all the "green" businesses and cars that the government has been trying to throw at us i live on the mississippi gulf coast and let me tell you red tides have nothing to do with global warming because if its the warmth of the water the algae would just wait till June when the gulf heats up to 85 degrees due to just how hot it is around here the thing is do you think Earth will stay the same climates forever?? Hell no the ozone layer is repairs itself by sunlight and the only thing strong enough to damage the ozone layer is solar flares 2 things we cant do anything about. If anything the seasons are coming later and later every year the earth has a life cycle as does everything else it changes as it gets older nothing we can do about it. Oh and for fun facts a volcano puts out more CO2 than a decade of human emissions. Just think about where CO2 comes from its comes from almost everything on this planet from humans to animals to wild fires, volcanoes THERE IS NOTHING TO HUMAN RACE CAN DO TO STOP THE EARTH FROM CHANGING BECAUSE WE ARE NOT THE ONES DESTROYING IT BECAUSE NOBODY IS DESTROYING IT ITS A LIFE CYCLE DO NOT LET THE GOVERNMENT CONVENCE YOU THAT YOU ARE THE ONE DESTROYING THIS PLANET ALL THEY WANT IS YOUR MONEY FOR THINGS THEY CLAIM WILL HELP THE PLANET BUT IT JUST CAUSES INCONVIENCE ON YOU! Oh anyone heard of the Alabama Crimson Tide??????? where do you think they got the name Crimson Tide from?????? because of the common red tide that happens in the gulf every year maybe?????
i wonder if someone would just send ships to recycle the algae from sea and send it to factories making oil/ethanol from algae.
there's such an 'algae to fuel' technology already, the last time i heard. that would save those marine lives and get new energy source at the same time.