Florida - Thursday July 14, 2022: Save the Manatee Club has launched a new campaign urging Florida residents to pledge to be 'Fertilizer-Free for Manatees.'
Fertilizer use is a major cause of nutrient pollution in Florida's waterways. Nutrients fuel repeated harmful algal blooms in coastal and inland waters.
In the Indian River Lagoon, a critical manatee habitat, such harmful algal blooms have decimated native seagrass, resulting in the deaths by starvation of hundreds of imperiled manatees. An unprecedented 1,100 manatees died in Florida in 2021. Tragically, this Unusual Mortality Event is ongoing, with more than 600 manatees having died in just the first half of this year.
Florida residents can make a big difference for the health of our waterways by pledging to avoid or reduce fertilizer use.
The 'Fertilizer-Free for Manatees' pledge is:
• Avoid fertilizer use on lawns and landscapes;
• Conserve water by irrigating only when necessary;
• Keep grass clippings out of streets, waterbodies, and swales; and
• Learn about Florida-Friendly Landscaping to protect waterways.
The campaign website also expands on the pledge by providing household tips for protecting manatees at home—from installing rain sensors to mulching grass and yard debris—and directs homeowners to resources for researching fertilizer ordinances in their communities. The campaign will be publicized online, in print, and on billboard installations on Florida’s east coast.
“Human nutrient pollution from various sources has been a major driver of the harmful algal blooms that have led to a catastrophic number of manatee deaths,” said Patrick Rose, Aquatic Biologist and Executive Director of Save the Manatee Club, “The Fertilizer-Free for Manatees campaign aims to educate the public about how their individual actions, which may seem small, can have a cumulative healing effect on the overall health of our Florida waterways. Together, we can all take steps at home to protect manatees and their essential habitat."
For more information visit: fertilizerfree.org.
Save the Manatee Club was founded in 1981 by singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett and former Florida Governor and U.S. Senator Bob Graham to protect manatees and their aquatic habitat.
For more information about manatees and the Club’s efforts, visit: savethemanatee.org or call 1-800-432-JOIN (5646).