After Historic Die-Off, Drop in Manatee Deaths Sparks "Guarded" Optimism

Following a historically fatal few years for Florida manatees, the deadly trend may finally be subsiding.

Preliminary data from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) shows that roughly 520 manatees perished in 2023 — a significant decrease from previous years. Approximately 800 manatees died in 2022, and more than 1,000 perished in 2021, marking the deadliest year on record for the marine mammals.

The drop in fatalities is mostly due to a decrease in starvation among manatees in Brevard County, the epicenter of the die-off, says Pat Rose, executive director of the Save the Manatee Club.

Rose says the latest statistics are "encouraging" when taken together with improved body condition reports and documented natural recovery of some seagrass in the region, a prime food source for manatees.

"The immediate situation is guardedly optimistic," Rose tells New Times, "as we have a majority of the winter to go."

Among the more than 500 manatee deaths this past year were 86 caused by watercraft, 13 from cold stress, 13 by other human-related causes, and 190 that have not been necropsied. The majority of the manatee deaths were recorded in Lee County, which suffered the second-worst number of manatee deaths in 2022.

State officials recently scaled back on necropsies due to a lack of funds to examine the animals' carcasses amid the uptick in deaths.

Despite the slowing of deaths since 2021, Rose emphasizes that the mammals aren't out of the woods just yet.

"Cold stress, watercraft, and red tide risk factors remain high," Rose says. "As does the return of harmful algal blooms that could lead to more seagrass losses."

The 2021 spike in deaths among the iconic, thousand-pound mammals was deemed an "unusual mortality event" — a rare designation that demands immediate attention under the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act. The die-off has been attributed to starvation from a drastic loss of seagrass in Florida. Parts of the Indian River Lagoon, where herds of manatees gather during winter, have become increasingly clogged with pollution and algae, preventing growth of the underwater plants.

Last year, in hopes of slowing down manatee fatalities, state and federal wildlife officials took the uncommon step of buying 55 tons of lettuce and hand-feeding it to the mammals along Florida's eastern shores.

In October, FWS announced that it would be taking an "in-depth" look into whether it should place Florida manatees back on the endangered list after the die-off. The review comes in response to a formal petition made by several environmental groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity, Miami Waterkeeper, and Save the Manatee Club, which together issued a press release applauding the decision.