Story by STEVE TRAIMAN
Photos courtesy Save the Manatee Club Archive
Florida manatee deaths are at more than 500 in just the first four months of 2022, a toll nearly equal to the fifth-deadliest year on record, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
This comes after a disastrous report released by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) earlier this year. From January 1 to December 31, 2021, preliminary data shows that there were 1,101 reported manatee deaths in the state – nearly double the five-year average – with most dying of starvation.
Of the more than 1,000 deaths, the state found 103 of them were watercraft-related, seven were crushed or drowned in flood gates and canal locks, and another seven were killed by human-related causes, such as poaching or rope entanglement. More than half of the deceased manatees were not necropsied, or their cause of death has been undetermined.
Only about 6,000 manatees left in all of Florida, the nonprofit organization Save the Manatee Club previously told CBS News. With that high rate of mortalities as a backdrop, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced May 2 in Jacksonville he will sign off on more than $30 million in manatee care, rehabilitation and other support allocated recently by the legislature. Co-sponsors of the House bill were Representatives Darren Soto (D, 9th District) and Vern Buchanan (R, 16th District).
“This historic funding will support important restoration efforts across the state to benefit our manatees and Florida’s natural environment,” DeSantis said.
The funding will direct nearly $25 million to expand and upgrade the network of acute care centers, such as those run by Zoo Tampa at Lowry Park (see accompanying sidebar) and SeaWorld Orlando; restore manatee access to springs; restore seagrass and other habitat conditions where they concentrate; and expand rescue and rehabilitation capacity.
The $25 million also will underwrite experimental responses such as the program to feed lettuce to manatees in Brevard County that recently ended.
Another $5.3 million will bolster manatee response abilities, including hiring 12 more employees for the FWC. About $160,000 will support increased aerial surveys of manatees.
The Save the Manatee Club praised the funding as a needed step in the right direction for a wildlife disaster that state and federal agencies refer to as an “unusual mortality event.”
“Due to the unprecedented severity of the ongoing Unusual Mortality Event (UME) – in which more than 1,600 manatees have died statewide over the last 16 months – these and additional extraordinary measures are called for in order to protect manatees and their critical habitat,” said Patrick Rose, the group’s executive director.
(Save the Manatee Club was started in 1981 by singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett & former Florida Gov. and U.S. Senator Bob Graham. Its mission is to protect endangered manatees and their habitat for future generations. You are encouraged to join the Club and participate in the annual Manatee Run & Walk.For more information, go online to savethemanatee.org, or call 1-800-432-5646 in Maitland.)
As an example, “Environmental conditions in portions of the Indian River Lagoon remain a concern,” the state’s FWC says on its website. “Researchers have attributed this UME to starvation due to the lack [of] seagrasses in the Indian River Lagoon. In recent years, poor water quality in the Lagoon has led to harmful algal blooms and widespread seagrass loss.
”The state says that “most of the seagrass in the Indian River Lagoon has disappeared,” and that the lagoon has seen declining rates of seagrass, a staple food for manatees, since 2011. The lagoon has been hit by several algal blooms since that time, which reduces the amount of light able to hit the water and allows seagrass and other aquatic plant life to grow. “The effects of prolonged starvation are detrimental,” the FWC says on its website, and can result in organ atrophy, metabolic and reproductive shutdown, decreased mobility and susceptibility to disease.
In January, Florida Fish and Wildlife initiated a supplemental feeding trial in the northern area of the lagoon, where most of the deceased manatees have been found, to provide “some aid” to manatees.
The state wildlife commission and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service set up their emergency feeding program at a Florida Power & Light Co. power plant south of Titusville where manatees gather during winter cold snaps. “We must insist that the state of Florida and the Environmental Protection Agency join forces to ensure that improved water quality standards are set and met if we are going to restore these aquatic ecosystems for the long-term future,” Save the Manatee Club’s Rose said.
[Editor’s Notes: Special thanks to Meghan Cohorst, Save the Manatee Club; Molly Lipincott, Zoo Tampa; FWC; Orlando Sentinel; & CBS News for their vital input & photos.]
Steve Traiman is president of Creative Copy by Steve Traiman in St. Pete Beach, offering freelance business writing services. He can be reached via email at traimancreativecopy@gmail.com]
SIDEBAR:
ZOO TAMPA at Lowry Park
For 30 years, Zoo Tampa at Lowry Park has been widely known for caring for critically injured, sick, and orphaned manatees at the David A. Straz, Jr. Manatee Critical Care Center. Molly Lipincott, a Zoo Tampa curator, told Paradise NEWS, “This vulnerable species has been at the heart of our commitment to the conservation of Florida wildlife.
“Our animal care and veterinary teams are often called upon to assist in the field with rescuing orphaned, sick or injured manatees. When a concerned citizen spots a manatee they think may be in trouble, we respond. Since 1991, we have treated over 500 manatees and have returned more than 280 of them to their native waters. Manatees are strong, resilient, and can overcome some of the most severe injuries with the care that they receive at our Critical Care Center.
“There’s nothing more rewarding than when a manatee has fully recovered and is ready to return into its natural habitat. It is an awe-inspiring and often emotional moment for the team and our community when a manatee is released, sometimes after many years of care and rehabilitation.
“Our Center was the country’s first nonprofit, acute care facility of its kind specifically dedicated to critical care of wild manatees and is one of just four manatee rehabilitation centers in the state of Florida. As manatee patients recover, our visitors can see this life-saving care in real time in the recovery pools of Manatee Mangrove.
“To enhance animal welfare and expand our mission to save Florida wildlife, we recently completed an upgrade to the water filtration system at our David A. Straz, Jr. Manatee Critical Care Center. This upgraded life support system allows us to provide advanced, specialized care to our patients, and enables us to treat even the most severe cases.”
For more info about Zoo Tampa at Lowry Park, go online to www.zootampa.org.