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Video: Are we loving manatees to death?

Manatees Timelapse from Sea Legacy on Vimeo.

Manatee season is nearly over at the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge in Florida, established in 1983 specifically for the protection of the endangered West Indian Manatee. And, if you watch the video above, you can almost imagine the manatees breathing a sign of relief. Manatee season in the park is November 1 to March 31. Every winter, people descend to adore the manatees. But are we loving them to death? Conservation photographer Cristina Mittermeier made this video with fellow photographer Neil Ever Osborne. Around the middle, notice the manatee stampede. Mittermeier says this happens several times a day when a sudden loud noise onshore scares them.

Posted 
March 21, 2014
 in 
Earth

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