Original Article: https://blog.theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/manatee-gtgm/

2021 was rough, but it was especially deadly for manatees, which saw 15 percent of their population die off in a single year alone.

Most of the 1,110 manatees who perished in 2021 died from starvation, which is a growing threat in the waters where they live. In the Indian River Lagoon (IRL) one-third of Florida’s manatees call home, poor water quality and harmful algae has decimated 60% of the seagrass they once fed on.

manatee 1 - It’s A Make-Or-Break Moment For Florida’s Manatees. Here’s How You Can Help Save Them
Photo: Greater Good Charities

Florida’s Fish & Wildlife Foundation is racing to replant the seagrass, but this stop-gap measure won’t solve the manatees’ current crisis. Without our help, these gentle “sea cows” will continue to starve, pushing their dwindling numbers even closer to extinction.

The manatees’ desperate plight led Greater Good Charities to partner with Florida’s Fish & Wildlife Foundation, which is struggling to feed 170 rescued manatees brought in for care during this devasting year. (Just for comparison, only 27 manatees were rescued in 2020, underscoring the species’ increasing peril).

manatees 2 - It’s A Make-Or-Break Moment For Florida’s Manatees. Here’s How You Can Help Save Them
Photo: Greater Good Charities

Sadly, this soaring number of rescues also included 23 orphaned manatee calves whose mothers starved, leaving them hungry and helpless.

But there is some good news. Rescue facilities have a 96% success rate when it comes to rehabiliting manatee calves and releasing them back into the wild. All they need is enough food to help the extremely malnourished manatees regain their strength.

That’s where you come in.

manatee 3 1200x628 - It’s A Make-Or-Break Moment For Florida’s Manatees. Here’s How You Can Help Save Them
Photo: Pixabay

You can help us provide leafy greens and other produce to feed rescued manatees, who need our help to recover from widespread starvation. For every $25 dollar donation, we can provide 30 pounds of food.

Can you rush adonation to help us save manatees from starvation?

Source: The Animal Rescue Site Blog