Alarming manatee death toll in Florida prompts calls for endangered status

The Guardian reported on the alliance of environmental groups — including Miami Waterkeeper, the Center for Biological Diversity, Harvard Law’s animal law clinic, and the Save the Manatee Club — petitioning federal wildlife officials to restore the manatee’s “endangered” status after nearly 2,000 died in two years, largely from starvation as pollution destroyed their seagrass. “With astounding losses of seagrasses around the state, we need to address water-quality issues to give the manatee a fighting chance,” said our Executive Director Rachel Silverstein.