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Manatees gather in a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., canal near an outflow of warm water from a power plant in 2010. More than six dozen threatened manatees are in rehabilitation centers in Florida and elsewhere amid a chronic starvation problem caused by water pollution, wildlife officials said last week. World & Nation Florida manatees face starvation, though fewer have died this …

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — One thing wildlife officials have learned during the winter experimental feeding program to help manatees avoid starvation is that if you feed them, they will come. Manatees have eaten virtually all of the estimated 160,000 pounds of lettuce provided at a warm-water power plant site where manatees typically congregate during cold months, officials said Wednesday during …

Florida manatee feeding program to wind down as temps warm

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The experimental program that has fed tons of lettuce to starving manatees in Florida will begin to wind down as the weather warms, wildlife officials said Wednesday. Last year, more than 1,100 manatees died — far above the five-year average of about 202 annual deaths — mostly of starvation because their favored seagrass source of food …

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — More than 1,000 manatees have died in Florida so far this year, eclipsing a previous annual record as the threatened marine mammals struggle with starvation due to pollution in the water. Authorities expected another bad year for manatees, with more deaths to come as Florida enters the winter months when the animals congregate in warm-water areas …