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Ashley Lopez

Ashley Lopez is a reporter for WGCU News. A native of Miami, she graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a journalism degree. 

Previously, Lopez was a reporter for

WLRN-Miami Herald News and The Florida Independent. She also interned for Talking Points Memo in New York City and WUNC in Durham, North Carolina.

She also freelances as a reporter/blogger for the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting.

Send news pitches to wgcunews at wgcu.org

Animals
3:15 pm
Thu March 28, 2013

Algae Bloom Kills Record Number Of Florida Manatees

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Credit Steve Nesius / Reuters/Landov
A rescued manatee suffering from exposure to an algae bloom called red tide in southwest Florida comes up for air as it swims into a critical care tank at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo.
Credit Steve Nesius / Reuters/Landov
A rehab care team at a manatee hospital holds down a rescued manatee as it is treated for exposure to an algae bloom called red tide
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Originally published on Thu March 28, 2013 5:38 pm

More than 200 manatees have died in Florida's waterways since January from an algae bloom called red tide, just as wildlife officials try to remove the marine mammal from the endangered species list.

It used to be boat propellers that were the biggest killer of manatees, but red tide has been especially bad this year.

Florida Fish and Wildlife officer Steve Rice routinely scours the Caloosahatchee River in southwest Florida for dead manatees. He has found more than 20 in the past few weeks.

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