UniTEd

Manatees in hot water.

Sea cows are gentle creatures, with few natural predators. Yet the 5,000-plus manatees in Florida waters can’t catch a break. They’ve long been the victims of watercraft, entanglements, and red tide, but now their deadliest foe is low temperatures. Over the past two winters, says the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation COmmission, hypothermia and stress from cold weather- including the most frigid 12-day stretch in 70 years- have killed at least 400 of the endangered mammals.

Manatees are tubby but lack the insulating blubber of whales. In winter they once relied on warm springs; now they depend largely on the effluent discharged by power plants. Even some off-line plants are required to heat the water to 61 degrees f. But hot tubs can only do so much. More temperate winters would help keep the surrounding waters suitably warm- and manatee populations afloat.

-Gretchen Parker