WATCH: Brevard Conservationist Laurilee Thompson Provides Details About Record Death Rate of Lagoon Manatees

FWC: manatee deaths are at an all-time high

ABOVE VIDEO: Are you aware of the Manatees starving across Florida’s Space Coast? Conversationist Laurilee Thompson speaks on the critical conditions of the Manatees in Florida.

WATCH: Manatees are starving in Florida’s Indian River Lagoon and conservationist Laurilee Thompson speaks with Space Coast Daily’s Giles Malone regarding the critical condition of the Manatees on Florida’s Space Coast.

BREVARD COUNTY • SATELLITE BEACH, FLORIDA – Brevard County conservationist and restaurateur Laurilee Thompson was at the Desoto Parkway canal to talk about the critical situation facing the manatee population in Florida’s Indian River Lagoon.

Dozens of manatees congregated in the canal after the recent cold front the Space Coast experienced earlier this week.

According to officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission manatee deaths are at an all-time high for a variety of reasons, which Thompson addressed in detai in the above video.

The Indian River Lagoon is a grouping of three lagoons: the Mosquito Lagoon, the Banana River, and the Indian River, on the Atlantic Coast of Florida; one of the most biodiverse estuaries in the Northern Hemisphere and is home to more than 4,300 species of plants and animals. The Lagoon contains five state parks, four federal wildlife refuges, and a national seashore.

The Lagoon varies in width from 0.5 to 5 miles and averages 4 feet in depth.

The full length of the Indian River Lagoon is 156 miles, extending from Ponce de León Inlet in Volusia County, Florida, to Jupiter Inlet in Palm Beach County and includes Cape Canaveral.

The Lagoon covers one-third of Florida’s East Coast and Brevard County incorporates 71 percent of the lagoon’s surface.

Lake Okeechobee is connected to the lagoon by the Okeechobee Waterway and the St. Lucie River meeting in Sewall’s Point.

From north to south, the Indian River Lagoon system includes the following:

■ Mosquito Lagoon, from Ponce de Leon Inlet to the north end of Merritt Island, connected to Indian River by Haulover Canal.

■ Indian River, the main body of water, from the north border between Volusia and Brevard Counties along the western shore of Merritt Island, southward to St. Lucie Inlet.

■ Banana River, an offshoot of the Indian River, northward making up the eastern shore of Merritt Island.

■ Eau Gallie River

■ Crane Creek is a 3.3 miles long tributary of the Indian River in Melbourne.

■ Turkey Creek Sanctuary is a county wildlife reserve and nature trail system located along the shores of Turkey Creek. A tributary of the Indian River, in Palm Bay Florida.

■ Turkey Creek (Indian River) is a tributary of the Indian River in Palm Bay Florida.

■ St. Sebastian River

■ Hobe Sound is the portion of the lagoon from St. Lucie Inlet to Jupiter Inlet.

For water quality measurement, the non-profit Marine Resources Council has divided the lagoon into four major divisions, with a total of ten subdivisions.

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