The past year has not been kind to manatees along the Florida coastline. While years of public educational programs and law enforcement seem to have stemmed the tide of animals killed by boat propeller strikes, a new and greater threat has emerged resulting in record manatee deaths. As a result of poor coastal water quality and clarity, the sea grasses that these gentle, slow moving herbivores rely on for survival are vanishing. Nowhere is the situation more dire than the complex and fragile estuary ecosystem known as the Indian River Lagoon along Florida's Atlantic coast. Dr. Duane De Freese, Executive Director of the Indian River lagoon Council and IRL National Estuary Program, describes decades of human caused damage to the IRL which in turn threatens countless species of plants and animals.

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