Originally published on Thu March 28, 2013 6:38 pm
More than 200 manatees have died in Florida's waterways since January from an algae bloom called red tide, just as wildlife officials try to remove the marine mammal from the endangered species list.
It used to be boat propellers that were the biggest killer of manatees, but red tide has been especially bad this year.
Florida Fish and Wildlife officer Steve Rice routinely scours the Caloosahatchee River in southwest Florida for dead manatees. He has found more than 20 in the past few weeks.
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