![\"Manatees\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.animals24-7.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Picsart_25-03-27_21-39-20-702-e1743136785893.jpg?ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/p>\n(Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n ORLANDO,\u00a0 Florida\u2013\u2013<\/strong>Some of the best news for manatees in decades came separately, quietly,\u00a0 almost simultaneously in mid-March 2025 from the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission and from SeaWorld Orlando.<\/p>\n The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission issued an official declaration that manatees are no longer starving to death due to a pollution-induced die-off of sea lettuce along the both the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of Florida that began circa 2016.<\/p>\n (SeaWorld media photo by Jeannette Conrado)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n SeaWorld Orlando celebrated 1,000 successful releases of rescued and rehabilitated manatees since 1976,\u00a0 a number of particular significance because for much of that time the total manatee population was only in the low thousands.<\/p>\n Further,\u00a0 without heroic efforts,\u00a0 including those of SeaWorld Orlando,\u00a0 the manatee population might have dropped back to the low thousands during the worst of the sea lettuce die-off.<\/p>\n The SeaWorld celebration focused on Chihiro,\u00a0 a young female manatee.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Chihiro was found in the cold waters of Coffeepot Bayou, \u00a0she weighed just 190 pounds \u2013 thin, \u00a0stressed, \u00a0and struggling to survive her first winter alone,\u201d\u00a0 said SeaWorld publicist Hannah Pfahler.<\/p>\n Chihiro should have weighed more than twice as much,\u00a0 and at full maturity,\u00a0 five to six times as much.<\/p>\n (Jeannette Conrado\/SeaWorld media photo)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cHer rescue isn\u2019t just symbolic,\u201d\u00a0 Pfahler told ANIMALS 24-7<\/strong>. \u00a0\u201cIt reflects a rising trend. More manatees, \u00a0especially calves, \u00a0are in crisis due to cold snaps, \u00a0habitat changes, \u00a0and difficulty finding warm water\u201d during cold snaps.<\/p>\n Manatees are in thermal trouble at temperatures of less than 68 degrees Fahrenheit.\u00a0 Among the ironies of global warming is that Florida,\u00a0 historically much warmer all year,\u00a0 is now having ever more cold snaps due to climactic instability.<\/p>\n \u201cSeaWorld\u2019s rescue team is adapting rapidly,\u201d\u00a0 Pfahler said, \u00a0\u201cexpanding care areas, \u00a0triaging cases, \u00a0and making room for the most critical animals\u2013\u2013like Chihiro, \u00a0who was recently moved to the exhibit space to help free up space for others in need.\u201d<\/p>\n SeaWorld and manatees?<\/p>\n Yes;\u00a0 marine mammal rescue and rehabilitation,\u00a0 including of manatees,\u00a0 could be considered SeaWorld\u2019s most successful program of benefit to wildlife.<\/p>\n Thetis & Amphrite at the California Academy of the Sciences.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/em>(Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cSeaWorld is one of the largest marine animal rescue organizations in the world, \u00a0helping more than 41,000 animals to date,\u201d\u00a0 SeaWorld advertises.<\/p>\n ANIMALS 24-7<\/strong> has often seen the evidence,\u00a0 most memorably the 1995 SeaWorld rescue of two Pacific white-sided dolphins from a severely undersized tank at the California Academy of the Sciences,\u00a0 where they had been held for 18 and 20 years,\u00a0 respectively.<\/p>\n (See Dolphins in undersized tank to be moved.<\/a>)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Manatee rescue is among the missions the SeaWorld rescue team performs most successfully,\u00a0 with normally the least fanfare.<\/p>\n \u201cIn 2024 alone, \u00a0SeaWorld Orlando\u00a0rescued 61 manatees\u00a0and was able to\u00a0rehabilitate and return 38 manatees,\u201d\u00a0 Pfahler detailed.<\/p>\n Craig Pittman & friend.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Manatees don\u2019t do spectacular leaps,\u00a0 or send trainers flying into the air with \u201crocket hops,\u201d\u00a0 no manatee ever killed a trainer,\u00a0 inspiring an award-winning but controversial documentary,\u00a0\u00a0 and while some people do pay good money to swim with manatees,\u00a0 \u201cswim with manatees\u201d attractions are scarcely a staple of Florida tourism.<\/p>\n The words \u201cSeaWorld\u201d and \u201cmanatees,\u201d\u00a0 in short,\u00a0 do not exactly go together in either public imagination or activist nightmares.<\/p>\n Yet SeaWorld can claim credit right alongside the Save the Manatee Club,\u00a0 the late singer and manatee ambassador Jimmy Buffet (1946-2023),\u00a0 and Manatee Insanity<\/em> author and journalist Craig Pittman,\u00a0 among others,\u00a0 for helping manatees to survive not only decades as an endangered species,\u00a0 but also what proved to be grossly premature removal from the U.S. federal endangered species list.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (See <\/em>Jimmy Buffett, 76, was there when needed for dolphins & manatees<\/em><\/a> and <\/em>Will more boat kills than ever stop proposal to ease manatee safeguards?<\/em><\/a>)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n An officially endangered species ever since the first U.S. federal endangered species list was designated in1967,\u00a0 manatees were downlisted to \u201cthreatened\u201d \u00a0by the U.S.\u00a0Fish & Wildlife Service in 2017,\u00a0 early in the first Donald Trump administration.<\/p>\n Though recent counts had suggested that the Florida manatee population was growing,\u00a0 the 2017 downlisting came chiefly through lobbying pressure from speedboaters,\u00a0 speedboat manufacturers,\u00a0 shoreline developers,\u00a0 and a succession of Republican governors and Republican-majority legislatures catering to them,\u00a0 not that the Democratic record on behalf of manatees was ever especially good.<\/p>\n \u201cIn 2015,\u00a0 Florida had 915,000 registered boats,\u201d\u00a0 Pittman recounted as the downlisting loomed, \u00a0\u201ca number that last year topped 950,000,\u00a0 more than any other state.\u201d<\/p>\n (See\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Favor to speedboaters: Trump administration downlists manatees<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe official U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service estimate of the population was 6,300,\u201d\u00a0 Pittman wrote. \u00a0\u201cSome estimates said we hit 7,000.\u201d<\/p>\n This was,\u00a0 to be sure,\u00a0 far more manatees than had been estimated many years earlier,\u00a0 but far more manatees were seen at least partly because of markedly more human incursions into what formerly had been relatively isolated manatee habitat.<\/p>\n In other words,\u00a0 there were not necessarily more manatees,\u00a0 just more manatees who could be easily counted when they crowded into the warmer waters near electrical generating station cooling water discharge pipes during cold snaps.<\/p>\n (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service photo)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n In January 2024,\u00a0 for instance,\u00a0 Tampa Electric announced a new record count of 1,100 manatees from its water discharge pipe observation area,\u00a0 up by about 250 from the old record of 850,\u00a0 set in 2023.<\/p>\n Blue Springs State Park in Volusia County meanwhile counted a record 932 manatees on January 21,\u00a0 2023,\u00a0 \u00a0up from the previous record of 736 spotted on New Year\u2019s Day 2023.<\/p>\n But the desperation of manatees crowding together for warmth in cold weather scarcely signified a population surge,\u00a0 even if there had been some population recovery since the worst of the sea grass shortage.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n When manatees were downlisted in 2017,\u00a0 the major source of known manatee mortality was boat strike,\u00a0 historically accounting for about 25% of all documented manatee deaths.<\/p>\n After manatees were downlisted,\u00a0 manatee deaths due to boat strikes trended steadily upward.<\/p>\n \u201cIn 2019, \u00a0Florida\u2019s boaters\u00a0set a new record for killing manatees in the\u00a0state\u2019s waterways,\u201d\u00a0 observed\u00a0 Pittman.<\/p>\n The 2019 boat strike toll of 134 manatees \u00a0topped the 2018 record of 122, \u00a0\u201cwhich\u00a0topped the 2017 record of 108, \u00a0which topped the\u00a02016 record of 104,\u201d\u00a0 Pittman recited.<\/p>\n Jeannette Conrado\/SeaWorld media photo)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Then the Florida manatee population crashed due to starvation,\u00a0 at a rate that made the rising boat strike casualties look small.<\/p>\n Mourned Pittman in his Florida Phoenix<\/em> column of April 6, 2023,\u00a0 \u201cOver the past two years we\u2019ve lost 2,000 manatees. \u00a0Many died of starvation caused by algae blooms that killed off the seagrass they usually eat.<\/p>\n \u201cIn 2021, 1,100 manatees died, shattering all previous records. Another 800 died in 2022.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTampa Bay used to be a widely hailed success story for restoring seagrass,\u201d\u00a0 Pittman recalled. \u00a0\u201cBy 2016, the people working toward bringing it back had achieved their long-sought goal of 38,000 acres, \u00a0a size not seen since the 1950s.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cBut between 2016 and 2022, Tampa Bay lost more than 11,000 acres of seagrass, \u00a0a decline of more than 25%\u2013\u2013and the same occurred in the Indian River Lagoon,\u00a0 and in other Florida manatee habitats.<\/p>\n \u201cThe cause is human pollution \u2014 stormwater runoff carrying massive loads of it,\u00a0 floods that overwhelm sewer plants, and so forth,\u201d\u00a0 Pittman explained.<\/p>\n Pollution in turn fueled \u201cthe growth of a macroalgae,\u00a0 Caulerpa prolifera<\/em>.\u00a0 Instead of beneficial seagrass,\u201d\u00a0 Pittman wrote,\u00a0 \u201cin some places where seagrass used to grow, \u00a0there\u2019s mucky sediment and an algae bloom.\u201d<\/p>\n Further,\u00a0 Pittman mentioned,\u00a0 \u201crising sea levels caused by climate change are hurting efforts to bring the seagrass back.\u00a0 Seagrass needs sunlight to pierce the water so it can grow,\u201d\u00a0 but parts of Tampa Bay and the Indian River Lagoon are now as much as six inches deeper than they were when the manatee population was believed to have been recovering.<\/p>\n (Jeannette Conrado\/SeaWorld media photo)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Florida Fish & \u00a0Wildlife Conservation Commission declared the manatee die-off \u201can Unusual Mortality Event\u201d in 2021,\u00a0 purchasing $250,000 worth of land-grown lettuce from South Carolina and raising funds from the public to keep the feeding program going in 2022.<\/p>\n The lettuce-feeding program was credited with lowering the manatee death toll to 555 in 2023,\u00a0 but if fewer manatees remain,\u00a0 obviously fewer can die.<\/p>\n (See Starving Florida manatees need more than just lettuce for Christmas<\/a>.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThe agency closed its \u201cUnusual Mortality Event\u201d along Florida\u2019s east coast for the sea cows on March 14, \u00a02025,\u201d\u00a0 reported Molly Reed for Orlando.com.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n That,\u00a0 explained Save the Manatee Club director of science and conservation Beth Brady,\u00a0 \u201cjust means manatees have enough forage that they\u2019re not dying off in large numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n According to the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission,\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cResearchers have not documented a manatee death from starvation due to lack of forage for two years.\u201d<\/p>\n Wrote Reed,\u00a0 \u201cThe Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission attributed the positive change to seagrass within the Indian River Lagoon area slowly growing back.<\/p>\n \u201cBrady says there are some areas where they have been able to find adequate seagrass for foraging,\u201d\u00a0 Reed qualified.\u00a0 \u201cHowever, \u00a0there are still water quality concerns.<\/p>\n Explained Brady,\u00a0 \u201cA lot of agricultural runoff, \u00a0storm water runoff, \u00a0and leaky septic systems or septic tanks could also bring another harmful algal bloom if we\u2019re not careful.\u201d<\/p>\n (See Nitrogen kills Florida sawfish\u2013\u2013& manatees\u2013\u2013but no one wants to say so<\/a>.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n 2011 photo of a hefty manatee and plenty of sea grass at Wakulla Springs, Florida<\/strong><\/em> Even the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission acknowledged that the end of starvation deaths \u201cdoes not negate the unprecedented loss of manatees, \u00a0the FWC said in a social media post,\u201d\u00a0 Reed wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cA recent Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission report shows 243 manatees died between January 1 to March 21 this year, which is already a higher mortality rate than 2023 and 2024,\u201d\u00a0 Reed continued.<\/p>\n \u201cDead manatee calves are also being found in Volusia and Brevard counties.\u201d<\/p>\n Assessed Brady,\u00a0 \u201cThis indicates that manatees are returning to reproduction but may not have the capacity to be able to bring calves to term. \u00a0Most of these calves were stillborn.\u201d<\/p>\nManatees are not big crowd-pleasers,\u00a0 but they are Florida\u2019s biggest & most unique native mammal<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n1,000 manatee rescues<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cHer rescue isn\u2019t just symbolic\u201d<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cHelping more than 41,000 animals to date\u201d<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nSeaWorld & manatees?<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nPrematurely downlisted<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nMore visible does not necessarily mean more manatees<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nRecord counts<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nBoat strike<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nAlgal blooms<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nHuman pollution<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cUnusual Mortality Event\u201d<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nManatees still at risk<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n
(Dave Pauli photo)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\nRising mortality<\/h2>\n