ORLANDO, Fla. — Manatees caught in a starvation crisis in the Indian River east of Orlando may not be as stricken as a year ago, wildlife officials said Wednesday.
“We did some manatee research captures last week in Brevard and based on those animals we captured, they all looked like they were in decent body condition,” said Andy Garrett, a state biologist. “We are hopeful but cautiously optimistic that maybe they turned a corner but it is a sample size of only 9 or 10 animals, so it’s still yet to be seen.”
State and federal authorities during the past week have restarted an emergency response of feeding lettuce to manatees at a site south of Titusville along the Indian River in Brevard County.
