Indian River Lagoon

Nearly 2,000 manatees died in the state in 2021 and 2022, a two-year record. Widespread water quality problems and seagrass losses left the sea cows starving.

The judge said the Florida Department of Environmental Protection needs to seek what is known as an “incidental take permit” from federal wildlife officials to help minimize the effects of discharges on manatees.

Rampant pollution caused manatees to starve. Florida waters are getting worse.

Hanisak, director of education and the marine ecosystems health program at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, died May 7.

This year’s fish kills were linked to the lagoon’s low levels of dissolved oxygen.

Gov. Ron DeSantis proposed a budget that, among other things, calls for a variety of tax cuts and an increase in teacher pay.

The legislature would need to approve DeSantis' $3.5 billion proposal, which would be spread over four years.

The study from the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute shows the greatest concentration of toxins were in the sharks’ stomachs.

Florida’s estuaries once teemed with clams, oysters and other bivalves that helped keep waters clean and seagrasses healthy. By the mid-20th century, only a fraction of the state’s vast shellfish beds and reefs remained. Can a small clam make a big difference in serious water pollution hotspots like the Indian River Lagoon?

The Florida Atlantic University study published in the Journal of Wildlife Diseases looked at turtles in the Indian River Lagoon over the last two decades and found pollution weakened their immune systems.

The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission reported that 841 manatee deaths were recorded through July 2 — breaking the previous record of 830 deaths in 2013.