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Will More Money Save the Manatee?

A manatee surrounded by fish
FWC Flickr
/
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Calf between mother's flippers

State officials are doubling their funding for Florida wildlife officials to help manatees recover from what appears to be a mass die-off due to starvation.

Florida Today reports the $8 million in funding this year comes from the Florida House of Representatives supplemental funding list, and FWC is unsure at this time how to spend the funds. At least 695 manatees have died so far this year, 53 in Lee County alone.