State and federal wildlife officials are investigating reports of a manatee found with “Trump” drawn on its back in a Florida river.
The aquatic mammal was spotted over the weekend in the Homosassa River in Citrus County, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission confirmed. The area is about 80 miles (130 kilometers) north of Tampa.
“West Indian manatees are essential members of the ecosystems in which they inhabit and are protected under the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act,” USFWS Director Aurelia Skipwith said in a statement.
The manatee does not appear to be seriously injured, officials said. It appears that the word was written in algae that had grown on the animal’s back, not scratched into its skin.
Wildlife officials are looking for any information regarding the animal's harassment. Tips can be reported at 888-404-3922. The Center for Biological Diversity, a nonprofit group that protects endangered animals, is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to a conviction in the case.
Harassing a manatee, a federal crime, is punishable by a $50,000 fine and up to one year in prison.
U.S. health officials say fully vaccinated Americans don't need to wear masks outdoors anymore unless they are in a big crowd of strangers.
Car culture in the U.S. spurred a parking boom since the early 1900s. As a result, cities are chock full of parking lots and garages. Cheddar explains why this happened and the often unseen damage it's doing to our urban centers.
Jill and Carlo talk about optimism on the pandemic and economy, a big demographic shift that will have implications for the midterms, Apple rolling out its new privacy tool, and the Oscars ratings.
The first numbers from the 2020 census are out and they show Republican-controlled Southern and Western states gaining congressional seats.
While much of the world remains hunkered down, the band Six60 has been playing to huge crowds in New Zealand, where social distancing isn’t required after the nation stamped out the coronavirus.
The White House says the U.S. will begin sharing its entire stock of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines with the world once it clears federal safety reviews.
Even before COVID, Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) was coming into vogue among left-leaning economists and policy-makers. But what is it? And what are the arguments for and against it?
Officials say the European Union is finalizing plans to allow tourists from the United States to travel to the 27-nation bloc this summer.
Jill is joined by Baker Machado this morning to talk about the CDC reinstating the J&J vaccine, a worsening Coronavirus crisis in India, but also, where things are looking a lot better.
Michigan has become the current national hotspot for COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations at a time when more than half the U.S. adult population has been vaccinated and other states have seen the virus diminish substantially.
