(Image source from: The Independent)

Sea cow or manatee deaths have escalated this year as a deadly tide of red algae continues to expanse the Gulf of Mexico.

Much of these aquatic mammals have died up to now in 2018 than in the whole of 2017.

At the beginning of the year, experts have blasted a combination of the cold snap and the red tide that has struck Florida this summer.

"We expect the red tide-related manatee death toll to rise," Jeff Ruch, executive director for NGO Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, told AP. "We suspect there are a number of carcasses that have not been reported yet."

For approximately 100 manatee deaths thus far, figures from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission suggest the red tide is to blame.

The process is the consequence of nutrients in the water causing a bloom in algae called dinoflagellates.

According to experts, though algal blooms are natural occurrences, they have been exacerbated by changes to land and waterways near the ocean, as well as associated agricultural runoff.

Florida beaches have been clogged with tonnes of dead fish and other sea life that has been toxicant by the algae.

As local communities are likewise suffering, infirmaries have seen a 50 percent increase in hospital visits due to respiratory conditions as an outcome of breathing in toxins from the blooms.

Conservationist Marilyn Levy Odea said manatees are affected because they breathe in the algae's toxins, as well as absorbing them through their skin and consuming them in the plants they eat.

As they are slow-moving creatures, manatees may as well be to a lesser extent capable to flight the red tide as it spreads across the region.

In whole, Florida is home to about 6,000 manatees, and they are considered a vulnerable species.

Manatees are as well at the peril of watercraft hit as propellers and boat hulls can bring down annihilating injuries on them, besides toxic algae and loss of habitat as humans encroach on their favored haunts.

By Sowmya Sangam