Florida is seeing an increase in the average number of manatee deaths this year.
The problem? Scientists can't figure out the cause of some because necropsies were suspended during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic. They were halted in April and May to keep animal experts socially distanced.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, in about a third of the 388 deaths, the bodies of the manatees were verified but not recovered.
As spokeswoman Michelle Kerr told the Tampa Bay Times, “it takes several staff together to pick up a manatee carcass.”
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