Nearly 1,000 manatees gathered at Blue Spring State Park on one of the coldest winter days of the season. Here's why the growing number of manatees at the park is encouraging.
Ninety percent of the seagrass has died in an important estuary, leaving manatees without enough to eat. More than 1,000 manatees have died, and many others are emaciated and distressed.
The mammals were removed from the endangered species list in 2017, but algae blooms and overdevelopment have killed 46,000 acres of seagrass, leaving manatees without enough to eat.