ORLANDO, Fla. — In a lull before a feared return to disaster, wildlife authorities said Wednesday they are about to receive truckloads of lettuce for feeding starving manatees this winter in the coastal Indian River east of Orlando.
Jon Wallace of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said operations have been beefed up for this year’s emergency feeding of manatees, including for logistics, finance and operations and management.
Last winter, state and federal agencies hand-fed more than 200,000 pounds of lettuce to manatees that sought shelter in the warm waters discharged by the Florida Power & Light Co. plant south of Titusville. They anticipate providing significantly more lettuce this winter.
