Manatee Dines on Backyard Grass After Florida Lawn Floods During Storm Surge

A manatee was spotted munching on backyard grass as https://twitter.com/NWSTampaBay/status/1696865030225182860 Hurricane Idalia impacted southwest Florida on Wednesday, August 30. Kathleen Eisenhauer captured this video in her backyard in Port Charlotte, and said she spotted the animal during the storm surge from the hurricane. "There was a manatee that swam up above the dock-line and was munching on our grass on our property," Eisenhauer said. "The manatee seemed very hungry, and we should continue to remember how ocean environmental damages have plagued the manatee population in the last few years." According to the https://myfwc.com/research/manatee/rescue-mortality-response/statistics/mortality/ Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission , a large number of manatees have died due to an ongoing "Unusual Mortality Event (UME)" from starvation and malnutrition. The video shows the large gray animal lingering just over the seawall for a few moments before moving back into deeper water. The National Weather Service (NWS) https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Port+Charlotte&state=FL&site=TBW&textField1=26.9855&textField2=-82.1086&e=0 issued a storm surge warning and a tropical storm warning for Port Charlotte "until further notice." (Footage by Kathleen Eisenhauer/Storyful via Getty Images UGC)