Florida sees fewer manatee starvation deaths as feeding ends

By CURT ANDERSON
Associated Press

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The effort to feed thousands of pounds of lettuce to starving manatees in Florida has officially ended for the winter season, as deaths of the marine mammals appear to be slowing despite the long-term threat of pollution to their main food source, seagrass. State and federal wildlife officials said Wednesday that just under 400,000 pounds of lettuce was provided to hundreds of manatees at a warmwater power plant site along the east coast where they typically gather for the winter. It marked the second year of the experimental feeding program. More than 2,000 manatees have died mostly from starvation from January 2021 through March 10 of this year, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.