Coldest winter here in FL in decades. Wonder if this picture of dying Florida manatees will get as much media attention as the phony polar bear photos.
Posted on 03/17/2010 5:37:53 PM PDT by Brilliant
The New Year's cold snap devastated the state's manatee population, with more than 100 carcasses showing up in state waters in the first three weeks of 2010...
Biologists report that the big chill — which brought the coldest 12-day period South Florida has seen since at least 1940 — inflicted mortal cold stress on an unprecedented scale, killing at least 77 of the 107 dead manatees found as of Jan. 23, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The number of cold stress deaths exceeded the previous single-year record of 56, set last year.
The manatees join the untold millions of fish that went belly-up from Florida Bay to Tampa Bay and the hundreds of sea turtles that bobbed to waters' surface in frozen shock from this year's cold weather...
Researchers say the cold likely contributed to the deaths of several newborn manatees as well.
The death toll is expected to rise as biologists continue to work extended hours pulling carcasses from state waters and performing necropsies, the wildlife commission said. The rate should slow as temperatures warm.
The news comes a week after scientists reported that the cold weather had resulted in annual statewide manatee count that broke all previous records. The sea cow survey counted 5,067 across Florida, smashing the previous record of 3,802 set in 2009, as scientists found the manatees especially easy to spot huddled near sources of warm water, such as the power plant outfalls.
At the Florida Power & Light's power plant in Riviera Beach, hundreds of manatees huddled throughout the cold spell in an inlet about two-thirds the size of football field, where warm water poured from discharge pipes. The crowd of sea cows was so thick "you could probably walk across them," as Palm Beach County's environmental director observed...
(Excerpt) Read more at palmbeachpost.com ...
Coldest winter here in FL in decades. Wonder if this picture of dying Florida manatees will get as much media attention as the phony polar bear photos.
...sorry...
Oh, the Earth is so cruel! It's not fair!
Darn that global warming...
It’s sure “lookin’ good” for those Polar bears though. LOL! Another typical envirowacko screwup. Those morons can’t do anything right.
I've often wondered if anyone bothered to ask the Polar bears if they really like all the *#@$ing ice and snow?
The Earth is a very cold place, sometimes, for 10,000 years or so, we have warming periods. We are at the end of the last warming period. 12,000 years ago the Great Lakes were glaciers. The manatees are a dying species.....I'll let you speculate on New England.....
I think the enviromentalist scum also forced power plant companies to cool the clean water they used to cool the power plants. The manatees in the winter would stay close to the power plants cooling ponds and canals to stay warm.
I guess this winter they had no place to go.
Totally useless blubber, no loss!
I am suprised the FPL plant in Riviera Beach was able to keep the warm water going. I thought other plants were forced to cool the water.
Warm globally, cool locally!/s
If only one more grandparent had turned off their A/C last summer and had died, one more giant sea slug would have lived.
If they could leap out to the water with a girl on their nose someone might care.
/s
Man, that’s a lot of manatee steaks. Should go well with the fried dolphin. ;-)
Amazing though, isn’t? 100 dead manatees and because of the weather they counted more manatees than they ever knew existed.
They are not useless blubber. Old crackers will tell you that the manatee has lots of really good meat.
... Pass the Gravy
Glowbull Warming froze the hugh manatees.
I’m worried. I was here to post the exact same comment. It is a natural, I am ashamed to say. I kind of glad you beat me to it.
Was in Florida during that time. Never took off my New England windbreaker, flannel shirts, sweater, hat and gloves. Came back to Providence to warm up. 12 degrees at T F Green airport was MORE NATURAL than the 28 degrees at West Palm airport, and “felt” warmer.
...I apologized in #3...it worries me, too...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.