"800 Manatee Deaths Bring Attention to Degrading Water Quality and Dying Grass Beds in Florida ...Grass in the Indian River has diminished by 58 percent since 2009. Algae blooms from poor water quality are common in the river. Such blooms block sunlight that seagrasses need to grow.... Grass bed decline now has reached such a critical stage that manatees are dying of starvation. The large creatures commonly weigh 800 to 1,000 pounds, and eat roughly 10 percent of their body weight in grass daily. "
