Red Tide Killing Manatees
An unprecedented 184 manatees have been killed in Gulf of Mexico waters off southwest Florida so far this year due to a toxic red tide bloom that has impacted roughly 100 miles of coast. The death toll surpasses the previous record of 151 manatee deaths from red tide in 1996. “The toxin paralyzes the manatee so it is not able to take a breathe, to come to the surface, and they basically drown,” said Martine DeWit, a veterinarian with FWC’s marine mammal pathology laboratory. 
Twelve rescued manatees have been taken to Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo for emergency medical care, where zookeepers alternate three-hour shifts holding their heads out of tank water so they can breathe. One manatee brought in had to have its head held above water for 29 hours before it was able to begin breathing on its own. Fortunately, According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), as of mid-March the deaths seem to be tapering off. But until it’s safe to return the manatees to the wild, “We’ll just keep taking them in,” says Virginia Edmonds, Lowry’s animal care manager for Florida mammals. “We want to save as many as we can.” Via E-The Envirionmental Magazine.
Third Stage of 5-Year African Expedition to Kick Off
Austria-based explorer, anthropologist, filmmaker, publisher, author and Fellow with The Royal Geographical Society, Julian Monroe Fisher, is set to begin the third phase of his five-year Great African Expedition, exploring Africa’s interior using Folbot Greenland II expedition kayaks. Last May, Fisher completed a successful overland journey from Cairo to Khartoum, and in February he finished travelling from Juba, the capital of South Sudan, to Uganda’s Lake Albert. Next, Fisher plans to circumnavigate Lake Victoria in Uganda.
Fisher, originally hailing from South Carolina, says the trip’s aim is ethnographical. He’s retracing the African expeditionary routes of Victorian explorers Speke, Grant, Brazza, Burton, Baker, Baumann, Linz, Livingstone and Stanley, with the goal of comparing the 19th century tribal kingdom documentation with the cultural realities of the 21st century along the same Central African rivers and lakes. Via PaddlingLife.
Mississippi River Run Begins in May
The first-ever Mountain Folk Adventure Series launches May 5 with a two-month, human-powered journey down the 2,350-mile length of the Mississippi River, from Lake Itasca, Minnesota, to New Orleans. Participating teams in the Mississippi River Run are required to raise $1,000 for Habitat for Humanity, and will be on their own for the roughly 60 days aside from two checkpoint-cum-parties. Learn more at http://www.themountainfolk.com/
