Author: popcorn563

Already famished manatees managed to avoid any mass die-offs or the need for any dramatic rescues during Florida’s first significant cold snap of the season, which sent temperatures plummeting across the state around Christmas. But with more chilly days ahead this winter, Florida wildlife officials continue to keep a close, worried watch as they struggle to keep the species afloat by hand feeding them lettuce at the Florida Power & Light Co. plant in Port St. John, for a second year in a row. “We’re in full operational mode,” Capt. Thomas Van Trees of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation…

Florida’s weekly average of COVID-19 hospitalizations doubled between November and January, according to federal data. CDC data show Florida hospitalization numbers rose to a weekly average of 2,200 admissions by the first week of January. Orlando Health reports its numbers have been rising but not at a concerning rate. Dr. Elena Cyrus, a UCF epidemiologist, said the rising rate of hospitalizations accompanied by lower death counts compared to last year means two things: the current variant of the virus spreads faster, but it isn’t as strong. “So there’s a greater number of cases, which then allows there to be a…

(CNN) — Dry Tortugas National Park in the Florida Keys is temporarily closed to the public due to an influx of migrants from Cuba. The closure, which went into effect on Monday, is expected to last several days “while law enforcement and medical personnel evaluate, provide care for and coordinate transport to Key West for approximately 300 migrants who arrived in the park over the past couple of days,” according to a National Park Service (NPS) press release. The park is about 70 miles (113 km) west of Key West and is only accessibly by boat or seaplane. Dry Tortugas…