© 2024 All Rights reserved WUSF
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
LIVE BLOG: Updates on Hurricane Milton
Climate change is impacting so much around us: heat, flooding, health, wildlife, housing, and more. WUSF, in collaboration with the Florida Climate Reporting Network, is bringing you stories on how climate change is affecting you.

Disappearing Seagrass Hurting Beloved Manatees On Florida's East Coast

iStock

The manatees are dying in the Indian River Lagoon.

Tens of thousands of acres of seagrass that is critical to the health of the Indian River Lagoon have disappeared, and it's affecting manatees.

The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports that since 2009, 58% of the seagrass in the lagoon system has disappeared, choked off from sunlight as a result of an over-saturation of nutrients in the water.

Seagrass is food for hundreds of thousands of animals, and home to even more. The loss of seagrass has been especially hard on the manatees that graze on it.

An expert who has spent 40 years studying manatees in Central Florida said dead manatees are being found with nearly nothing in their stomachs.

You Count on Us, We Count on You: Donate to WUSF to support free, accessible journalism for yourself and the community.