Tag: Florida

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Florida begins emergency feeding, rescue of starving manatees

Florida will begin emergency feeding and rescue of starving manatees

Record numbers of endangered manatees are dying as polluted waters kill off their food sources

Florida wildlife officials will undertake a manatee feeding and rescue operation involving hand-feeding the mammals romaine lettuce, amid unprecedented mortality among the gentle aquatic creatures affectionately known as “sea cows”.

Typically, manatees return to warm water winter feeding grounds, where they feast on plentiful seagrass.

But algal blooms from polluted waters have devastated seagrass beds, … [more…]

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Fort Lauderdale’s polluted waterways need help: Here come the oysters

Fort Lauderdale’s polluted waterways need help: Here come the oysters

Photo: Mike Lambrechts — The Broward chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association is providing homes for oysters to filter water in Fort Lauderdale’s sewage-contaminated waterways.

As broken sewage pipes foul Fort Lauderdale’s waterways, a group of conservationists has begun deploying one of the world’s most formidable filtration systems.

A single oyster can cleanse more than 50 gallons of water a day. Volunteers with Coastal Conservation Association, a recreational fishing and … [more…]

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The Snakes That Ate Florida: Burmese pythons

photo: giant pythons invasive species snakes in the Everglades

Photo: Ian Bartoszek and Katie King recapture the 50-pound sentinel snake Johnny, who has led his minders to 18 adult Burmese pythons for removal. (Gena Steffens)

Bounty hunters and biologists wade deep into the Everglades to wrestle with the invasion of giant pythons threatening the state’s wetlands

In the Everglades, everything still looks the same. The waving saw grass, the cypress and pine trees draped with air plants, the high, … [more…]

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A legal loss in Florida’s water war | Editorial

A legal loss in Florida’s water war | Editorial

A special master appointed by the U.S. Supreme Court has said that Florida – not Georgia – is to blame for decimating the oyster industry in Apalachicola. (DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times)

A hearing officer has dealt Florida the nearest thing to a fatal blow in its long-running water war with Georgia. In a report last week, the special master, Senior U.S. Circuit Court Judge Paul J. Kelly Jr., found … [more…]

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The Florida Activist Is 78. The Legal Judgment Against Her Is $4 Million.

The Florida Activist Is 78. The Legal Judgment Against Her Is $4 Million.

Maggy Hurchalla kayaking near her home in Stuart, Fla., this summer. Eve Edelheit for The New York Times

STUART, Fla. — Maggy Hurchalla’s piece of Florida heaven is a patch of pristine Atlantic shore accessible only by boat in St. Lucie Inlet Preserve State Park. She and her husband nicknamed it the “End of the World” when they first came upon it half a century ago, after paddling south along … [more…]