Photo: Getty Images
Following a record, 1,100 manatee deaths last year in Florida, state and federal wildlife officials began feeding the starving animals last month.
More than 50,000 pounds of produce, mostly lettuce, has been fed to the sea cows in the Indian River Lagoon since January 20th.
During a video conference Wednesday, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials said between 60 and 500 manatees are at the feeding site at any given time, and the animals are eating about 3,000 pounds of food per day.
The feedings were approved late last year due to the lack of seagrass in the lagoon caused by poor water quality along Florida’s east coast.
FWC biologist Ron Mezich says the program appears to be working as planned.
“We think it’s being successful because we have large numbers of animals on cold days that we are providing forage too. We are adapting our process to get as much food to as many animals as we can.”
The feeding program is scheduled to last through the end of March.
According to the most recent FWC data from February 4th, there have been 164 manatee deaths in Florida waters so far in 2022.
That is behind last year’s record pace, but still well ahead of the five-year average.