Florida manatees are counting on your help to survive

 

This is sickening. The cruise industry’s endless pollution is harming gentle manatees! Now we have a choice: We can stand up to the greedy companies whose actions are STARVING this precious species, or we can let them get away with destroying our oceans and our planet for profits. Right now, we’re falling short of our urgent World Wildlife Day goal, and we’re running out of time to close the gap before our midn‌ight deadline! We’re counting on supporters like you who care about our ocean life, our communities and our planet to come through now.  2022 was one of the DEADLIEST on record for Florida’s manatees – with ONE SIXTH of this manatee population LOST to agonizing starvation! Then just last year, more than 500 more manatees were DECIMATED by corporate-driven hunger and pollution. Here’s one of the problems: Cruise companies are spewing massive quantities of TOXIC wastewater into our oceans and harming the habitat where manatees live! The combination of the acidic wastewater from ships’ exhaust cleaning systems and other polluted waste (including human sewage!) is feeding devastating algae blooms. The algae KILLS the shallow-water seagrass that provides manatees’ primary food source! With seagrass beds withering from endless pollution, our dwindling manatee populations could reach the point of no return. Worse, so much of this destructive pollution is COMPLETELY LEGAL. What’s more, cruise ships are pumping ocean-warming, climate-destroying CO2 emissions all throughout the fragile coastlines where manatees make their home. While docked in coastal communities, even ONE mid-sized cruise ship can spew as much particulate pollution as ONE MILLION cars! Coastal communities are TRAPPED, breathing in this hazardous waste and can suffer higher rates of respiratory disease like asthma as a result. We MUST hold Big Cruise accountable for the damage they are causing to our ocean ecosystems and the communities that rely on them the most. That’s why hitting our World Wildlife Day goal is so critical.  No corporation should be above the law. But the cruise industry is growing so fast that governments have struggled to regulate it. That means cruise corporations are getting away with even more reckless dumping! Worse, these companies are using their financial might to suppress our efforts to fight back. They’ve lobbied to BLOCK coastal communities from demanding better protections! We can’t afford to stay quiet while these greedy companies attack our right to clean air and water and sacrifice our oceans for profits. Friends of the Earth Action is determined to fight back for as long as it takes to hold Big Cruise accountable. We’re demanding proper regulations for massive cruise ships and fighting to see them enforced – so megapolluters don’t get away with barely a slap on the wrist. But we urgently need your help to hit our goal before World Wildlife Day ends. Thank you for your urgent support, Marcie Keever Oceans & Vessels Program Director Friends of the Earth Action Contact Us Friends of the Earth Action Washington, D.C. | Berkeley, CA 1-877-843-8687 Contact Us Learn more foeaction.org