Advocacy organizations have been stepping up to save the starving manatees in Florida. December 2022’s official estimate includes nearly 800 manatee deaths. Volunteers and staff at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission continue to feed the manatees lettuce.
This was last year:
When the temperatures in Florida drop below 68 degrees, as they did during Christmas week, manatees swam to the warm waters near Tampa Electric’s Big Bend Power Station in Apollo Beach. The station draws salt water out of Tampa Bay and recycles the clean, warmer water back into the bay. Manatees will gather there when water temperatures drop. On the East Coast, similar crowds gather at Manatee Lagoon.
According to Wired, Rachel Silverstein, the executive director of environmental Miami Waterkeeper, having to feed the manatees is “emblematic of how dire the situation is.” The ecosystem for the animals has been destroyed, and since last year the feeding program has saved some of the animals – but at what price? Pollution has been a huge factor which has killed the seagrasses; a once popular and sustainable food choice for the “sea cows.”
In order to solve the critical need for a natural food source for the manatees, environmental issues have to be addressed. Since human population has increased exponentially, thus creating more need for agriculture, more boating accidents involving manatees and pollutants, sewage leaks, chemical discharge from agriculture and extra fertilizers have increased algae blooms – thus blocking the sunlight from reaching seagrass.
This cascade of pollution has destabilized Florida’s ecosystem for plants and herbivores; scientific estimate that about 95 % of seagrasses have died off in parts of the Indian River Lagoon. Without them , the manatees are dying too.
Wired
Just one year ago, the US Fish and Wildlife Service sent a letter to the EPA asking that it lower pollutants, however the EPA declined stating the limits were not the problem. The agency claims it’s the nutrients in the water that are threatening the health of the manatees. It is expected to take several years for the seagrasses to come back. Meanwhile, 2023 begins its second year of trial feeding the manatees romaine lettuce at a temporary feeding area in Brevard.
We did see quite a few that were showing signs of sideways swimming, facial tremors, full skeletal structure. This year to date, we have not seen any animals showing these signs which is promising.
Michelle Pasawicz FWC
Even small progress is being hailed as positive news, There are areas of seagrass growing, but it’s going to take awhile until the manatees can take care of themselves. Sadly, many are still underweight and more deaths are expected.
For more information and how you can help, please click here at Save the Manatees.
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