Media Advisory
5/19/2022
Raed Alshabi, President
Space Coast Progressive Alliance (SCPA)
abeeraed@aol.com
321-961-5234
https://scpaflorida.com
https://www.facebook.com/SCPAFloridahttps://twitter.com/SCPABrevard/https://www.instagram.com/scpabrevard/
THE STRUGGLE TO LIVE – Why Florida IRL Manatees Starve
Thursday, June 2nd 6:30 – 7:30 PM
A virtual event
FREE and Open to the public 
Hosted by the SCPA
Our Speaker:
Dr. Wanda Jones, a marine mammal biologist and conservationist is an expert on manatee mortality.
ZOOM AND FACEBOOK LIVE  
Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84175950107
ID: 841 7595 0107
FaceBook Live:https://www.facebook.com/SCPAFlorida/

In 2021 manatees living in the coastal waters off Florida had their deadliest year on record. 1,038 manatees died statewide with 75% of deaths occurring along the Atlantic coast and in our Indian River Lagoon.

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Manatees are starving to death because seagrass, the manatees’ main food supply, has been destroyed by pollution and toxic algae blooms. Restoring the lagoon habitat through efforts to improve water quality include moving properties on septic tanks to sewer systems, improving water drainage, planting new sea grass and more.

Unfortunately the efforts to solve the water pollution catastrophe plaguing manatees will take decades. The temporary manatee romaine lettuce feeding program was something…but woefully insufficient.

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Our Speaker:
Dr. Wanda Jones, a marine mammal biologist and conservationist, has conducted research on manatee feeding preferences and compared the nutrient composition of lettuce, water hyacinth, and hydrilla. Dr. Jones states that the science is clear. Instead of spraying deadly herbicide poison into our water to kill Hydrilla and Water Hyacinth, she advocates mechanically harvesting these nutritionally superior plants to feed the manatees in an attempt to save them from starvation. Officials counter that would be too difficult.

Join us on Thursday June 2nd for this timely presentation as we think outside the box and explore another avenue to help save our beloved manatees.

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