In 2021, Florida crossed a deadly milestone, which saw more Montetti deaths in the first six months of 2021 than any other year on record. As of January 1, 2021, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FFWCC) has identified 841 men. The previous record was reported in 2013 when an outbreak of red tides – an algae flower that could be fatal to marine wildlife – was thought to have contributed to the deaths of 830 manatees. Although an NPR report said at least 63 people had been killed this year, the boat attack posed a significant threat to Manitowoc, although it was believed that record-breaking deaths from starvation had played a major role. TCPLM reports that most of the reports of deaths in Manatee come from the Indian River Lagoon and its environs.
It is not yet clear why the region appears to be so deadly to these marine mammals, but some suspect it is the result of pollutants destroying important food sources. “The unprecedented death of Manati due to starvation was documented on the Atlantic coast last winter and spring,” the Guardian quoted the FFWCC as saying. “Most of the deaths occurred in the winter months when the Manetira moved into and through the Indian River Lagoon, where most of the tides died.”
Exactly how cigars can be blamed for the destruction may be a combination of factors but algal flowers are again questionable. The TCPLM report said that 11 environmental groups have formed an alliance to tackle an environmental crisis that they believe will be exposed to the river Lagoon. In a letter to Governor Ron Desantis, they requested that pollutants leave the ecosystem out of a condition that could support marine life. “The evidence is irresistible and incredible,” read the letter, “and the Indian River Lagoon, one of the most biodiversity estuaries in North America, has become an unhealthy, algae-inhabited ecosystem.”
Algal flowers bloom most of the time when certain chemicals are released into the water from human sources. Fertilizers are a common culprit, flowing from land to waterways where they give off a flower that can disperse the aquatic ecosystem of oxygen, killing plants and animals through a process known as eutrophication.
