SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN)

"Environmental groups in Florida are warning that unusually high numbers of manatee deaths in the first five months of the year, blamed in part on resurgent algal blooms contaminating and destroying food sources, could threaten the long-term future of the species."

"A former Florida Department of Health employee has received whistleblower status a year after being fired for repeatedly violating the agency’s policy about communicating with the media."

"The Department of Health announced this week that Little Alabama Bayou, about 20 miles west of Baton Rouge, has fish with unsafe levels of mercury, a heavy metal that can stunt brain development and inflict long-term damage on the kidneys and heart. The bayou runs through the Sherburne Wildlife Management Area, a popular fishing destination."

"A floating mat of muck on the surface of Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp, home to rare carnivorous pitcher plants, blooming lilies and countless alligators and insects, looks like any other patch of mud from a distance."

"Brian Kelly, a panther biologist for the state of Florida, opens a creaking gate near Fisheating Creek, a narrow ribbon of preserved land just west of Lake Okeechobee."

"A federal judge ordered an immediate halt on Thursday to plans to dredge a shipping channel on the Georgia coast, citing a threat to sea turtles nesting on nearby beaches."

"After years of urging state and federal authorities to reduce harmful chemical emissions from the Denka Performance Elastomer manufacturing plant in Reserve [La.], a St. John the Baptist Parish group is seeking help from an international human rights commission."

"The scene at Pahokee marina on Lake Okeechobee last week was a warning sign: A thick mat of algae in various shades of green, brown, gray and fluorescent blue covered the area around boat slips. In some spots, the gunk was so dense it stuck out 2 inches above the water."

"In lower Plaquemines Parish, some fear they are river diversion's 'collateral damage'".