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Manatees could again be classified as endangered

Manatees could again be classified as endangered

Written by Leslie Lake on . Posted in Featured, Manatees, Outdoors.

MANATEE COUNTY – Following petitions from environmental groups, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) says that reclassifying Florida manatees from a threatened to an endangered species may be justified.

In 2017, the status of manatees was changed from endangered to threatened following signs the species was recovering. Since then, seagrass destruction related to algae blooms on Florida’s east coast has spiked manatee mortality.

“Originally listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1973, manatees have never truly recovered,” according to a prepared statement from the Center for Biological Diversity. “The FWS announced its final rule downlisting the West Indian manatee from endangered to threatened on March 30, 2017, despite hundreds of manatees still dying each year from boat strikes, habitat loss and other causes.”

The ESA defines a threatened species as “any species which is likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range.”

An endangered species is “any species which is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range,” according to the act.

Due to the declining manatee population in recent years, two petitions were submitted to FWS by the Center for Biological Diversity, Harvard Animal Law & Policy Clinic, Miami Waterkeeper, Save the Manatee Club and Frank S. Gonzalez Garcia to increase protections for the mammals.

“Pollution-fueled algae blooms sparked an ongoing mortality event that has contributed to unprecedented Florida manatee mortality approaching 2,000 deaths in 2021 and 2022 combined,” according to the Center for Biological Diversity. “This two-year record represents more than 20% of all manatees in Florida. Manatee experts predict more malnourished and starving manatees with fewer births for years to come.”

Unchecked pollution, wastewater treatment discharges, leaking septic systems, fertilizer runoff and resulting algae blooms and seagrass destruction led to the unprecedented manatee mortality event in the Indian River area in 2021-22.

As of Oct. 6, 476 known manatees died in Florida waters so far this year, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

One petition requested the reclassification of the West Indian manatee, including the Antillean and Florida manatee subspecies, as endangered species under the ESA. Another petition requested the Puerto Rico population of the Antillean manatee be listed as endangered. Both subspecies are currently classified under the ESA as threatened.

FWS announced on Oct. 11 that reclassifying the West Indian manatee from threatened to endangered may be justified.

“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has completed two 90-day findings on Endangered Species Act petitions to uplist the West Indian manatee and the Puerto Rican population of the Antillean manatee. Based on the Service’s review, both petitions present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned actions may be warranted,” according to a statement from the FWS.

“Today’s decision, known as a 90-day finding, is the first procedural step toward providing much greater protections for the imperiled species. The Fish and Wildlife Service must now conduct a thorough review of the best available science before determining whether to increase protections under the Endangered Species Act,” according to a statement from the Center for Biological Diversity.

A decision is due by Nov. 21.

The environmental groups lauded the decision to review the manatee’s status.

“This is the right call for manatees and everyone who cares about these charming creatures,” said Ragan Whitlock, a Florida-based attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “I applaud the Fish and Wildlife Service for taking the next step toward increased safeguards. Manatees need every ounce of protection they can get.”

“We are pleased that the Fish and Wildlife Service recognizes the need to reevaluate its ill-timed decision to downlist the Florida manatee,” said Patrick Rose, an aquatic biologist and executive director of Save the Manatee Club. “There can be no doubt that the service needs to immediately rebuild its manatee recovery program through increased staffing and funding. While the two remaining manatee recovery staff members are doing an incredible job in the face of unprecedented environmental assaults upon the manatees and their habitat, they must have more help right now to forestall this continuing emergency.”

The ESA allows citizens to petition the FWS to add species to the list of endangered and threatened wildlife, remove species from the list, and reclassify species on the list.

“The positive response is a welcome sign of hope for both subspecies of the West Indian manatee, the Antillean manatee and the Florida manatee, to once again thrive and inspire future generations,” said Frank S. González García, a Puerto Rican engineer.

“The service has a long history of working to save the manatee from extinction since it was one of the first species listed under the 1967 precursor to the Endangered Species Act,” FWS Acting Southeast Regional Director Mike Oetker said. “We are committed to ensuring we are getting the most updated scientific information during this status review to protect and recover the species.”

Manatee tips

• Obey posted signs for manatee slow-speed zones;

• Wear polarized sunglasses to see manatees in your path;

• If you observe a manatee mating herd – several manatees gathered as males vie to mate with a female – watch from at least 100 feet away. Coming any closer might disrupt the mating or endanger you; adult manatees typically weigh more than 1,000 pounds;

• Never feed or water manatees as they will become habituated to people, which could put them at risk of injury;

• Stow trash and line when underway. Marine debris that blows overboard can become ingested by or entangled around manatees;

• Report stranded or dead manatees to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) Wildlife Alert hotline at 1-888-404-FWCC (3922).

Environmental groups push to return manatees to endangered status

Environmental groups push to return manatees to endangered status

Written by Leslie Lake on . Posted in Featured, Manatees, Outdoors.

Since the 2017 downlisting of manatees from endangered to threatened status – and with a record number of deaths of the marine mammals – a push is underway to seek restoration of the manatee’s endangered status and the protections that go along with it.

Last month, The Center for Biological Diversity, Harvard Animal Law & Policy Clinic, Miami Waterkeeper and Save the Manatee Club petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to increase protections for West Indian manatees. The petition urges the wildlife service to reclassify the species from threatened to endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA).

“Since the service prematurely reduced protections in 2017, the species has declined dramatically,” according to a press release from The Center from Biological Diversity, a national non-profit conservation organization with a Florida office in St. Petersburg. “Pollution-fueled algae blooms sparked an ongoing mortality event that killed more than 1,110 Florida manatees in 2021 alone. This represents 19% of the Atlantic population and 13% of all manatees in Florida.”

As of October, 726 manatees have died in Florida so far this year. Officials estimate about 6,500 manatees live in waters of the southeastern U.S.

“West Indian manatees from Florida to the Caribbean are facing drastic threats from habitat loss, boat strikes, pollution, climate change and toxic algae blooms,” said Ben Rankin, a student attorney at the Harvard Animal Law & Policy Clinic. “The restoration of full Endangered Species Act protections is an essential first step in conserving this species everywhere it is found.”

Manatees had been protected as “endangered” since 1967 under the ESA. The 2017 reclassification came after the Pacific Legal Foundation, on behalf of Save Crystal River Inc., a recreational boating group, petitioned the FWS, saying the safety measures addressing the manatee’s endangered level of protection were bad for tourism and boating businesses.

Manatees are protected by the Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act, the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act and the ESA. They are listed as threatened under the ESA and designated as depleted under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

It is illegal to feed, harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound or kill manatees.

The West Indian manatee consists of two sub-species: the Florida manatee and the Antillean manatee. The average Florida manatee is about 10 feet long and weighs about 1,200 pounds. Florida manatees can live more than 65 years, however, among the manatees that reach adulthood, only about half are expected to survive into their early 20s, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

The pending petition is not the first call to restore the manatee’s endangered status. In June 2021, U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Manatee) called on the FWS to upgrade the manatee from threatened to endangered under the ESA.

“Manatees are beloved, iconic mammals in Florida,” Buchanan said. “We should provide these gentle giants with the highest levels of federal protection.”

In Nov. 2021, the FWC and the FWS ad- dressed an unusual mortality event (UME) among manatees along Florida’s Atlantic coast.

“Researchers have attributed the UME to starvation due to the lack of forage in the Indian River Lagoon. Historically, the lagoon has provided essential habitat to manatees year-round, and during the colder winter months many manatees depend on warm water refuges in this area,” according to the FWC.

“Increasing protections for manatees with an endangered listing would provide immediate protection,” said Rachel Silverstein, executive director of Miami Waterkeeper. “With astounding losses of seagrasses around the state, we need to address water-quality issues to give the manatee a fighting chance to survive and thrive.”

FWS has 90 days to evaluate whether the petition to protect the manatee as endangered presents substantial information to indicate that the action may be warranted. If so, the agency must complete a thorough review of the species’ status within 12 months of receiving the petition.

Worst year ever for Florida manatees

Written by Cindy Lane on . Posted in Environment, Featured, Manatees, Outdoors.

MANATEE COUNTY – By July 2 – halfway into 2021 – 841 manatees had died in Florida waters, more than in each of the two worst years in Florida’s history.

In 2018, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) reported 824 manatee deaths; in 2013, a record 830 deaths.

This year’s dismal record is primarily due to the loss of seagrass on the east coast of Florida’s inland waterways, according to the FWC, which, along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), has declared it an “Unusual Mortality Event,” prompting an ongoing investigation.

With red tide in Tampa Bay and other local waterways, thought to be fed by the discharge of 215 million gallons of nutrient-laden wastewater from the Piney Point phosphate plant this spring, manatees on the west coast also appear to be in danger. In Manatee County, 10 manatees died in the first half of this year, three from boat strikes.

Boats strikes caused 63 of this year’s deaths statewide. In its most recent report, the FWC notes that “The recurrence of watercraft-related mortality as the leading cause of death in manatees necropsied in the Atlantic region in June, consistent with similar observations on the Gulf coast, underscores the need for previously identified threats such as watercraft-related mortality to continue to be recognized as a concern for the population.”

Manatees no longer have ‘endangered’ status

Four years ago, the USFWS downlisted the West Indian manatee, including its subspecies, the Florida manatee, from the “endangered” species list to a “threatened” species status. The FWC’s state imperiled species list mirrors the USFWS’s federal imperiled species list for several species, including manatees.

Protected as endangered since 1967 under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the manatee “no longer meets the Act’s definition of endangered and should be reclassified as threatened,” according to the 2017 USFWS declaration.

The ESA defines an endangered species as being “in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range,” while a threatened species is “likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range.”

The downlisting came after the Pacific Legal Foundation, on behalf of recreational boating group Save Crystal River Inc., petitioned the wildlife service, saying the safety measures addressing the manatee’s endangered level of protection were bad for tourism and boating businesses.

Among the opponents of the downlisting was Dr. Katie Tripp, of the Save the Manatee Club, who wrote a 27-page letter to the USFWS on the reclassification.

“A downlisting to ‘threatened’ is premature and would substantially interfere with, if not outright prevent, the recovery of the species,” she wrote. “If all of the risks and threats to the manatees are taken into account, the only possible conclusion under the law is to maintain the West Indian Manatee’s status as ‘endangered.’ ”

Another opponent was Glenn Compton, director of the local environmental group ManaSota-88, who questioned the state’s consistency in counting manatees from the air, sometimes with one aircraft and sometimes with more; sometimes over one day and sometimes over more than one day.

“The methodology they use from year to year should be consistent,” Compton told The Sun in 2017. “Using different days on different counts is like comparing apples to oranges.”

In 2019, the FWC counted 5,733 manatees in state waters. This year’s survey was not conducted due to safety precautions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and last year’s was not conducted due to warmer than average winter weather. Manatees congregate in cold weather, making them easier to count from the air.

Population accuracy aside, “The biggest factor is loss of habitat due to development and increased boating with the state’s increasing population. Whatever gains are purported to occur, I would expect to see that go the other way in the future,” he said prophetically.

Congressman urges uplisting

In a move to recognize the manatee as endangered once again, U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Manatee) has called on the USFWS to upgrade the manatee from “threatened” status to “endangered.”

“Manatees are beloved, iconic mammals in Florida,” Buchanan said in a press release. “We should provide these gentle giants with the highest levels of federal protection.”

“When a species becomes extinct, it is lost forever,” he said. “We cannot afford to let that happen to these iconic residents of Florida and the state’s official marine mammal.”

In a letter to the wildlife service, Buchanan wrote, “There is a broad consensus among marine biologists and conservationists that the driving force behind the rapidly growing death rate is the degradation of the water quality in manatee habitats, growing levels of water pollution and an increase of harmful algal blooms that kill off seagrass. As seagrass disappears, manatees starve to death. Wildlife observers noted earlier this year that many of the dead manatees washing up on the shores were seriously emaciated.”

Former governor supports uplisting

Former Florida Governor and U.S. Senator Bob Graham, co-founder in 1981 with singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett of the Save the Manatee Club, supports uplisting in a letter on the organization’s website.

“The tragic loss of nearly 600 manatees statewide in fewer than three months in 2021 must be a wake-up call to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which dropped the ball when they listened to anti-manatee groups like the Pacific Legal Foundation and prematurely took manatees off the endangered species list over the objections of scientists and thousands of Americans who understood that the manatees’ future was not secure but in fact could get much worse. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service should admit its mistake and relist the manatee as an endangered species,” he wrote.

“I, along with my dear friend Jimmy Buffett, urge President Joe Biden to demand that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other federal agencies make protecting manatees and recovering seagrasses and other submerged aquatic vegetation a top priority in ensuring that our aquatic ecosystems are nursed back to health.

Graham also appealed to Gov. Ron DeSantis to make Florida’s Clean Waterways Act live up to its name… “and clean up the Indian River Lagoon and other Florida waterways before they too collapse under the demise of uncontrolled harmful algal blooms fueled by continued human-produced waste from unsustainable development.”

“The only way to reverse these devastating consequences of too much nutrient pollution is for citizens to demand that their local, state and federal leaders make cleaning up our waterways a top mutual priority,” he wrote. “Unless we stop the excess nutrient pollution from making its way into our bays, lagoons and rivers, our state will not be fit for man or manatee alike.”