Florida’s manatees won’t be counted this winter due to COVID-19, with the next count slated for December 2021, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).
Synoptic surveys are normally held in the coldest months of the year, January or February, but social distancing is impossible in the small aircraft used to spot manatees in their warm-water winter habitats, such as power plant outflows and natural springs, according to the FWC.
The last synoptic survey was conducted between Jan. 28 and Feb. 2, 2019, and reported 5,733 manatees sighted in the state.
Information sought in manatee harassment case
Someone carved the word “Trump” on the back of a protected manatee discovered Sunday in the headwaters of the Homosassa River in Citrus County.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is searching for information on the person or persons responsible for the harassment of the marine mammal.
Manatees seek sanctuary in winter months in the spring-fed waters along Citrus County’s coastline, making them accessible to swimmers and boaters.
The marine mammals are protected by the Endangered Species Act, and harassment is a federal criminal offense punishable by a $50,000 fine and/or up to one year in federal prison.
Anyone with knowledge of the incident is asked to call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at 888-404-FWCC (3922). Information will be forwarded to the USFWS.
The FWC’s new and preferred method of counting manatees is the abundance survey, which uses mathematical and statistical formulas to extrapolate an estimated number of manatees based on those actually counted.
“In the future, we will be relying on an abundance survey and less on the synoptic survey to monitor trends in population size,” FWC public information specialist Michelle Kerr said.
Only two abundance surveys have been made, in 2011-12 and in 2015-16, according to FWC. The latest survey reported an estimated 8,810 manatees, with 4,810 on the west coast and 4,000 on the east coast.
After the survey, in 2017, manatees were removed from the federal endangered species list and downlisted to “threatened.”
According to the FWC’s manatee mortality statistics, 619 manatees died in Florida waters in 2020, including at least 20 in Manatee County. Boating strikes are historically the primary cause of death for the state’s manatees.
“Boating is still a critically important factor for manatees, but sadly – and one that as an aquatic biologist and someone working in the field for about 50 years I really didn’t think we were going to see – is the levels of concern for the habitat itself,” said Patrick Rose, an aquatic biologist and executive director of the Save the Manatee Club. “With all the red tide, brown tides, blue-green algal blooms and just the problems that Florida is facing in terms of water quality and quantity, it’s starting to have a very significant impact on loss of seagrass and food resources for manatees.”
