Manatees

PFAS, the “forever chemicals” that have been raising health concerns across the country, are not just a problem in drinking water. As these chemicals leach out of failing septic systems and landfills and wash off airport runways and farm fields, they can end up in streams that ultimately discharge into ocean ecosystems where fish, dolphins, manatees, sharks and other marine species live. We study the risks from these persistent pollutants in coastal environments as environmental analytical chemists at Florida International University’s Institute of the Environment. Because PFAS can enter the food chain and accumulate in marine plants and animals, including fish that humans eat, the spread of these chemicals has ecological and human health implications. Biscayne Bay and nearby coastal areas are teeming with fish, including many varieties that people eat. NPS image by Shaun Wolfe I...

An unwelcome visitor is headed for Florida and the Caribbean: huge floating mats of sargassum, or free-floating brown seaweed. Nearly every year since 2011, sargassum has inundated Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and Florida coastlines in warm months, peaking in June and July. This brown tide rots on the beach, driving away tourists, harming local fishing industries and requiring costly cleanups. According to scientists who monitor the formation of sargassum in the Atlantic Ocean, 2023 could produce the largest bloom ever recorded. That’s bad news for destinations like Miami and Fort Lauderdale that will struggle to clean their shorelines. In 2022, Miami-Dade County spent US$6 million to clear sargassum from just four popular beaches. Satellite image of sargassum concentrations in the Atlantic during the month of March. USF/NOAA, CC BY-ND Sargassum isn’t new on South Florida beaches, but its r...

The gentle, slow-moving Florida manatee has no natural predators. And yet, these charismatic mammals face numerous threats. Manatees are struck by vessels in busy waterways across the state, and a majority bear scars from these collisions. Harmful algal blooms – characterized by the rapid growth of algae that degrades water quality – can impair their nervous systems. With less blubber, or fat, compared with other marine mammals like whales, dolphins, seals and sea lions, manatees are vulnerable to cold-stress syndrome during winter months. And they can ingest or get entangled in marine debris like derelict fishing gear and drown or be crushed by floodgate and water control structures. I am a doctoral candidate in marine biology at Florida International University’s Institute of Environment. Over the past 15 years, I have gained extensive experience working with marine mammals, particularly manatees. Recently, my colleagues at the United States Geologi...