When we listen to the sound of the seagulls and breathe in the salty air as we stroll along the beach, we sense a sweet balance of chaos and peace. Many of us come here for moments of pure bliss and a serene environment. Instead of hearing the daily sounds of wildlife, we have become accustomed to the persistent noise of boat engines, dredging, whistling, sonars, water parties, cruises, and the list goes on.

Manatees and dugongs, also named sea cows, are endangered species that belong to the scientific order of Sirenia. This order is made up of aquatic, herbivorous mammals that are mostly found in habitats such as coastal marine waters, rivers, estuaries and swamps. Here in Florida, our manatee is a subspecies of the West Indian manatee. When we think about the words ‘siren’ and ‘sirenian’, we imagine long tailed mermaids. Also known as the elephants of the sea, Sirenians are not mythological creatures that roam the oceans. They are real. They have purpose on this earth and we must take action in protecting them in order to allow them to thrive.

Busy coastal city life means endless cruise ships, fishing, boat parties, and water sports: the dream life for humans, but not for mammalian counterparts. Manatees love a good life as well. When it comes to eating, they can spend up to eight hours a day grazing on seagrass and other aquatic plants. Seagrass forms important ecosystems in coastal areas around the world, and seagrass meadows around the world have been suffering deterioration due to pollution and runoff that causes the notorious issue of eutrophication. As fertilisers filled with nitrogen and phosphorous leach into our waterways, the overwhelming growth of algae becomes an unavoidable dilemma. Algae thrive off of these two elements and take all the oxygen out of the water as a result of this growth. Other organisms become enriched in algae and sargassum while not being able to properly respirate and find food. This causes a cascading effect up the entire food web.