The manatee population has suffered a devastating blow so far this year. About 221
manatees have been found dead already. Out of those 221, 128 have no obvious cause of
death. Marine biologists have been unable to find the cause of these deaths. They
suspect that the Red Tide off of the coast of southwest Florida has some connection with
these mysterious deaths. A red tide is a bloom of flagellates which are deadly to marine
life, but cause no harm to the human population. Another possible cause is a virus that
is unknown to scientists. Many people believe that this problem will eventually stop an
the manatee population will flourish, but others are rather pessimistic.
Ecological Problem: The manatee population is quickly dying off and unless they make an
astonishing comeback, they will soon be extinct.
Ecological Solution: A possible solution to this problem is to move the manatees from
their current habitat into a similar habitat, away from the "source" of the problem. If
the manatees survive there, that tells scientists that the problem was in their habitat.
If the still die at their current rate, that would tell the scientists that the manatees
have a deadly unknown virus. If it is a virus, the scientists can devise some sort of
medicine to defeat this virus.
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