Florida's starving manatees reflect troubles in coastal ecosystems around the globe

Ask the veterinarians and biologists collecting dead manatees along Florida’s Atlantic coast this winter, and they’ll tell you starvation is a slow and excruciating way to die. 

Organs stop functioning. Cells break down. Muscles waste away. The starving animals are “dissolving on the inside,” said Pat Rose, executive director of the nonprofit Save the Manatee Club.