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The toxic red tide has caused emergency conditions in Florida counties in recent months. Harmful algal blooms cause significant deaths in fish, as well as diseases and deaths in sea turtles, birds and marine mammals, including manatees. Scientists from Florida International University (FIU), in coalition with Mote Marine Laboratory, are racing against the clock to neutralize poisonings with a new treatment.
The red tide accounts for 10% of manatee deaths in the last decade. Due to the current flowering cycle, this could reach 30% in the near future. With a $ 428,000 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's ECOHAB program, CRF and Mote are launching a three-year program to improve veterinary care for the manatees rescued by the Florida Red Tide.
The project allows scientists to study cellular immune responses in marine mammals to various antioxidant treatments. "The current approach is simply to give palliative care and wait until they eliminate the toxin and to improve," says Kathleen Rein, the CRF chemist who leads the team. with her colleague Cathy Walsh, marine immunology expert at Mote Laboratories. .
Related: Manatees removed from endangered species list – but may not be good
The current treatment, which uses anti-inflammatory substances, does not reduce the tide. "This new treatment could speed up the healing process," Rein said. "If this treatment is successful, it could be used with many other animals, including dolphins, turtles and birds."
The manatee has recently moved from the US Fish and Wildlife Service's endangered species list to threatened status. However, the current proliferation of Florida red tides, which continues without any prediction as to its duration, has already cost more than 103 of the 575 manatee deaths this year, or nearly 18%. "The need for better treatment is underscored by the current and lasting blooming of Florida's red tide and its intense impacts on Florida manatees," said Walsh. The current outbreak of the red tide is the worst that has been in the state since 2005, the situation is critical.
+ Florida International University
+ Mote Marine Laboratory
Image via Ramos Keith / US Fish and Wildlife Service
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