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Manatee mortality down

Manatee mortality down

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

MANATEE COUNTY – The recently released manatee mortality report for 2023 from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) shows that statewide deaths for manatees are well below the five-year annual average of 793.

The total number of deaths statewide last year was 556 and is the lowest since 2017 when 538 manatee deaths were recorded. The FWC’s estimate of the state’s manatee population in 2021-22 was between 8,350 and 11,730 manatees.

The leading cause of death last year was watercraft-related, according to the FWC report, which also noted that approximately 20% of the total statewide mortality last year was attributed to a significant red tide bloom in southwest Florida earlier in the year.

In Manatee County there were 19 total deaths recorded – four from watercraft, two perinatal, three natural and 10 not necropsied. The watercraft deaths occurred in the Braden River, Manatee River and Sarasota Bay.

“Population models identify both watercraft collisions and red tide blooms as one of the most significant threats to manatees long-term,” the FWC report stated. “In contrast with the Gulf coast, a high proportion (81%) of Atlantic coast carcasses was fully necropsied for the ongoing health investigation in the Unusual Mortality Event from starvation, but starvation-related mortality was very low (3% of Atlantic coast carcasses) in 2023,” according to FWC.

No mortalities were definitively attributed to Hurricane Idalia, but FWC staff and partners rescued 10 manatees across southwest Florida that had become entrapped after storm-related floodwaters receded.

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.

• Look, but don’t touch manatees. Keep your distance when boating, even if you are steering a canoe, kayak or paddleboard.

• 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).

Florida loses record number of manatees in 2021

Florida loses record number of manatees in 2021

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

More than 1,100 manatees died in 2021, a record high since the turn of the century, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

Brevard County on Florida’s east coast had the highest mortality toll, with 359 manatee deaths in the Indian River Lagoon system, where manatees starved because harmful algae blooms destroyed their primary food supply – seagrass, according to wildlife officials.

Manatee deaths in Florida this century

2000    272

2001    325

2002    305

2003    380

2004    276

2005    396

2006    417

2007    317

2008    337

2009    429

2010    766

2011    453

2012    392

2013    830

2014    371

2015    405

2016    520

2017    538

2018    824

2019    607

2020    637

2021    1,101

Total   10,898

 

Source: FWC

Algae blooms may also have caused some of the 28 manatee deaths in Manatee County, which includes Anna Maria Island. A red tide lasted for nearly eight months last year in Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico around the Island, exacerbated by nitrogen and phosphorus-laden wastewater dumped into the bay in March and April at the closed Piney Point fertilizer plant.

Statewide, last year’s manatee deaths nearly doubled the five-year average of 625 annual deaths. The FWC confirms that 2021 manatee mortalities meet the criteria for an “Unusual Mortality Event,” which has led to agency rescue efforts, including hand-feeding starving manatees.

“We take this situation seriously and are committed to working with our partners including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to explore short-term solutions to the die-off, as well as much-needed long-term solutions to restoring the lagoon ecosystem,” FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto said in a press release.

The last manatee population survey, conducted by the FWC in 2019, counted 5,733 manatees in state waters.

Manatee population surveys

 

2021 not conducted due to COVID

2020 not conducted due to weather

2019 – 5,733

2018 – 6,131

2017 – 6,620

2016 – 6,250

2015 – 6,063

 

Source: FWC

An alternate method, the abundance survey method, employs mathematical and statistical formulas to extrapolate an estimated number of manatees based on those actually counted, and estimated at least 7,500 manatees in state waters three years earlier, in 2015-16.

Those numbers were cited in 2017 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to remove manatees from the federal “endangered” species list and downlist the species to “threatened.” Manatees had been protected as “endangered” since 1967 under the federal Endangered Species Act.

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

In light of record-high 2021 mortalities, U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Manatee) has called on the USFWS to revisit its decision and restore the manatee from “threatened” to “endangered” status, joined by former Florida Governor and U.S. Senator Bob Graham, co-founder in 1981 with singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett of the Save the Manatee Club.

To help protect the state’s official marine mammal, follow these tips:

  • Obey posted signs for manatee slow-speed zones.
  • Wear polarized sunglasses to see manatees in your path.
  • Keep a lookout for the circular “footprints” or ripples they leave on the surface of the water.
  • If you observe a manatee mating herd – several manatees gathering 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.

Contact the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Wildlife Alert hotline at 1-888-404-FWCC (3922), dial #FWC or *FWC on a cellphone or text Tip@MyFWC.com if:

  • you see a manatee with a pink or red (fresh) wound.
  • the manatee is tilting to one side, unable to submerge or seems to have trouble breathing.
  • you see a manatee calf by itself with no adults around for an extended period of time.
  • you see anyone harassing a manatee in any way.
  • you see boaters speeding in a protected area.
  • you see a manatee entangled in monofilament, crab-trap lines or other debris.
  • you see a dead manatee.

To support the FWC’s manatee research, rescue and management efforts, purchase a Florida manatee license plate or donate $5 to receive a collectible FWC manatee decal at a local Tax Collector’s office.

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Manatee count delayed by COVID-19

Manatee count delayed by COVID-19

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

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.”

manatee decal

Manatee numbers down from 2017

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

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) counted 6,131 manatees in Florida waters in surveys this winter, down 489 from the record 6,620 manatees counted last year.

From the air, observers counted 3,731 manatees on the east coast and 2,400 on the west coast.

From January to April this year, 307 of the marine mammals died in state waters, including seven in Manatee County, according to the FWC.

In all of 2017, 538 manatees died in Florida, 20 of them in Manatee County.

The one-day surveys that began in 1991 have expanded in recent years to three or four days, and are conducted annually in cold weather when manatees are clustered in warm-water sites, making them easier to find, according to the FWC. The surveys cover all the known wintering habitats of manatees in Florida and provide researchers with a count of manatees visible in Florida waters during the several days of the survey.

Manatee surveys

2018                6,131

2017                6,620

2016                6,250

2015                6,063

Source: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Manatees were downlisted in 2017 from “endangered” to the less serious “threatened” status by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

To help keep manatees safe:

  • 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.

You can show your support for manatees by purchasing a manatee Florida license plate at or a manatee decal. Funds from the license plates and decals support manatee research and conservation.

To report a dead or distressed manatee, call the FWC Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922).

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