Manatee Parade

[catbyte]

Occurred on August 19, 2021 / Destin, Florida, USA

From the person posting the video:

"I grew up in this area and I've seen solo manatees on occasion but I've never seen an aggregation. I don't know the motivation but was quite a community event to see."

[Jim G.]

1. I've Never Seen More Than Two Together

That video was wild!

[Bayard]

2. Safety in numbers?

Running away from something?

[eppur_se_muova]

3. Destin is way up in the panhandle; usually manatees live much further south.

I lived three years in Destin. Never saw or even heard of manatees in the area.

But there's no global warming.

[sinkingfeeling]

4. Are they protesting the unacceptable number of their deaths in Florida?

[Fla Dem]

5. It's good to see such a large pod of Manatees. Their death rate so far in 2021 has broken records.

Florida Breaks Annual Manatee Death Record In First 6 Months Of 2021
July 12, 20213:42 AM ET

STUART, Fla. — More manatees have died already this year than in any other year in Florida's recorded history, primarily from starvation due to the loss of seagrass beds, state officials said.

The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission reported that 841 manatee deaths were recorded between Jan. 1 and July 2, breaking the previous record of 830 that died in 2013 because of an outbreak of toxic red tide.

The TCPalm website reports that more than half the deaths have died in the Indian River Lagoon and its surrounding areas in Volusia, Brevard, Indian River, St. Lucie and Martin counties. The overwhelming majority of deaths have been in Brevard, where 312 manatees have perished.

Some biologists believe water pollution is killing the seagrass beds in the area.

More:
https://www.npr.org/2021/07/12/1015183265/florida-breaks-annual-manatee-death-record-in-first-6-months-of-2021