Ecotasia's video: What is Killing all the Manatees All About Harmful Algae Blooms

The Manatees are in trouble! During the winters of 2022 and 2023, instead of having a relaxing winter in their clearwater spas, manatees were starving to death. The death rates were so high the state implemented a feeding program, handing out heads of romaine lettuce to hungry sirenians to get them through the winter, but why did this happen? Algae Blooms. When algae blooms have negative effects on other organisms in their ecosystem, the event is called a Harmful Algae Bloom or HAB. These include Blooms that bloock sunlight and red tides wich can poison manatees. Image Credit Monsanto Plastics Home of the Future, Disneyland, 1958 Photo courtesy Orange County Archives https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en Sources [1] Selene San Felice, B. M. (2023, January 18). Wildlife officials bring back feeding program for Florida Manatees. Axios Tampa Bay. Retrieved February 26, 2023, from https://www.axios.com/local/tampa-bay/2023/01/18/florida-manatees-feeding-program-winter [2] Causes and Ecosystem Impacts | Harmful Algal Blooms | CDC [3] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, October 4). Causes and ecosystem impacts. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved February 26, 2023, from https://www.cdc.gov/habs/environment.html [4]Moore, S. K., Trainer, V. L., Mantua, N. J., Parker, M. S., Laws, E. A., Backer, L. C., & Fleming, L. E. (2008). Impacts of climate variability and future climate change on harmful algal blooms and human health. Environmental Health, 7(Suppl 2). https://doi.org/10.1186/1476-069x-7-s2-s4 [5] Milman, O. (2017, August 1). Meat Industry blamed for largest-ever 'dead zone' in Gulf of Mexico. The Guardian. Retrieved February 26, 2023, from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/01/meat-industry-dead-zone-gulf-of-mexico-environment-pollution [6] Seufert, Verena; Ramankutty, Navin (2017). "Many shades of gray — The context-dependent performance of organic agriculture". Science Advances. 3 (3): e1602638. Bibcode:2017SciA....3E2638S. doi:10.1126/sciadv.1602638. ISSN 2375-2548. PMC 5362009. PMID 28345054. [7] "Shinnecock Bay Restoration Program". Shinnecockbay.org. Retrieved 2017-03-18. [8] Zerrifi, Soukaina El Amrani; El Khalloufi, Fatima; Oudra, Brahim; Vasconcelos, Vitor (2018-02-09). "Seaweed Bioactive Compounds against Pathogens and Microalgae: Potential Uses on Pharmacology and Harmful Algae Bloom Control". Marine Drugs. 16 (2): 55. doi:10.3390/md16020055. ISSN 1660-3397. PMC 5852483. PMID 29425153. 0:00 Swimming with Manatees 1:56 How Algae Hurt Manatee 5:07 Why Harmful Algae Blooms Happen 8:12 How to Stop Harmful Agae Blooms 10:56 Outro I try to achieve the most well researched content I can, that said it is impossible to create content that is exhaustive on a given topic and therefore I implore you to investigate a given topic further. Welcome to Ecotasia! On this channel you can find wildlife footage and short documentaries on the natural world. I am an early career biologist who was inspired by the likes of the BBC Natural History unit, PBS, and Animal Planet as a child and then more recently by various nature YouTube channels to share my love for animals and nature. My goal is to document and highlight the interesting ecology and behavior of organisms I encounter, as well as cover and elucidate conservation and biological topics. Please Subscribe so you can join me to marvel and to learn twice a month. Underwater Worlds https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYx5OP7sbAZAJNusnxcNoHUx_sNDYT92k Journey through the Undergrowth (Macro footage of insects and Arachnids) https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYx5OP7sbAZC-4h2hpK09I-FF563TQzlc Bird Playlist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZqNM9k7OoY&list=PLYx5OP7sbAZACa11LD1wDQhn0SI2-SV1f Birding Playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYx5OP7sbAZAYjq78IuGJI4wc0GXDRHTd Conservation Playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYx5OP7sbAZAIUm5UCl84q2KU2nI3YLpx