Mysterious Die-offs in Florida Lagoon
Jun 19, 2013 08:19 AM ET // by Gayathri Vaidyanathan
At least 111 manatees, 300 pelicans, and 46 dolphins ? emaciated to the point of skin and bones ? were all found dead in America?s most biologically diverse estuary.
Something is seriously wrong. The northern stretches of the Indian River Lagoon of Florida has a mass murder mystery that biologists are racing to figure out. The lagoon contains more species than anywhere else in the U.S. It is a barrier island complex stretching across 40 percent of Florida?s coast, around Cape Canaveral, and consisting of the Mosquito Lagoon, the Banana River and the Indian River Lagoon.
The lagoon has always been polluted by nutrients and fertilizers running off lawns and farms, but in recent years it appears to have reached some sort of tipping point, says Marty Baum of the Indian Riverkeeper.
?The lagoon is in a full collapse, it is ongoing,? he said...
