4 . Manatees — often called sea cows — are an anomaly in the animal kingdom. Neither predator nor prey, these peaceable creatures, which can grow to 13 feet and weigh more than 2,000 pounds, are evolutionarily devoid of aggression. Crystal River — “Manatee Capital of the World” — is the epicenter of their presence and recovery.

Yet despite some gains, manatees still face grave threats. Three-quarters of Florida’s 22 million people live along the coast, many in prime manatee habitat, where the strain of human-presence has degraded the state’s enchanted springs, waterways, and wetlands. In Indian River Lagoon, for example, an important manatee habitat along Florida’s densely populated east coast, decades of human waste, sediment from real estate development, and fertilizers from lawns and farms have clouded the water. That has killed seagrass, manatees’ main food source there. More than a thousand manatees have died in the lagoon during the past two years.

What people don’t understand is the need to help support them in waterways. That means restoring seagrass beds and freshwater aquatic vegetation, the basis of their existence and of the overall health of Florida’s waters. Steps to reverse the damage started small. Neighbors gathered with rakes, scooping up algae by hand. Ironically, it was Save Crystal River — the group environmentalists had opposed during their fight over the manatee’s endangered status — that spearheaded the restoration of aquatic vegetation. With funding from the state government, Save Crystal River hired Sea& Shoreline, an aquatic restoration firm, to remove the waste and replant the river bottom with eelgrass, which grows long, ribbon like leaves.

While the prospect of replanting the entire river was daunting, after vacuuming more than 300 million pounds of detritus and planting some 350,000 individual eelgrass pods by hand, the groups have flipped the river back to an ecosystem no longer dominated by algae.

Instead of spending the few short winter months in Crystal River before heading back out into the Gulf of Mexico to graze, some manatees now linger here year-round, enjoying fat times. Aerial surveys from January 2022 revealed the highest number of manatees ever recorded in these waters — more than a thousand in Kings Bay alone.

    1     (locate) in the suburbs of the capital, the Beijing Grand Canal Museum opened its doors to the public for the first time on December 27, 2023. China’s Grand Canal, which     2     (construct) initially during the Spring and Autumn Period, is the longest and largest ancient canal system in the world. It remains an important symbol of traditional Chinese culture,     3     (witness) important changes in Chinese society over the past centuries.

This newly opened smart museum has     4     total construction area of around 99,700 square meters, integrating function halls ranging from exhibition display areas and social education spaces to cultural heritage restoration workshops.     5     (celebrate) its opening, the Beijing Grand Canal Museum has launched a series of exhibitions centered around the close relationship     6     the Grand Canal and the city of Beijing, focusing on the themes of people, water, and the city.

As the highlight of the museum, the core exhibition showcases over 1,000 cultural relics     7     artworks following a timeline that follows the development of the Grand Canal. In addition to displaying the cultural heritage of the Grand Canal, the museum’s exhibits also highlight     8     (technology) skills. In the earthquake prevention exhibition hall, there is a piece of glass through     9     a seismic (地震的) isolation bearing is visible. Underneath the exhibition building, there are around 240 such     10     (facility) supporting the entire museum, significantly improving the safety of the building.

Nature lovers can look forward to particularly dazzling displays of reds, ambers, butter yellows and russet browns this autumn, said the National Trust.

“UK is about to be wrapped in a “warm blanket” of beautiful colours. This year’s summer weather has helped resist the trend of recent dry ones, so our plants and trees finally had a chance to hydrate(补水) and are now gearing up for a dazzling show. The autumn spectacle is likely to start in Scotland, where temperatures typically drop the fastest, followed by the north of England and Northern Ireland, with a domino effect down the rest of England and Wales through to the southwest.”

“We have really high hopes for a spectacular autumn display, which will make up for last year’s poor season. In 2022 the lack of rain and high temperatures put our trees under huge stress before we experienced strong winds that blew the leaves off before they had a chance to turn.”

“I was hoping for the first “normal autumn” in a while. Our gardens and woodlands in the southeast are directly facing the impacts of climate change in this country. The older trees that we care for in London are particularly vulnerable to suffering from prolonged droughts.”

“The charity was identifying trees with stress caused by years of drought and increasingly warm winters.”