Florida’s manatees have had a rough time lately. The biggest threat has been water pollution which has caused unheard of numbers of deaths. The threats to manatees may now place them back on the endangered species list.
The threats to manatees are numerous and varied. Although manatees are popular animals and a tourist draw, human activity has harmed them. Water pollution blocks sunlight which stunts the growth of sea grass. Sea grasses are the bulk of their almost exclusively vegetarian diet.
According to Smithsonian Ocean:
“Seagrasses are found in shallow salty and brackish waters in many parts of the world, from the tropics to the Arctic Circle. Seagrasses are so-named because most species have long green, grass-like leaves. They are often confused with seaweeds, but are actually more closely related to the flowering plants that you see on land. Seagrasses have roots, stems and leaves, and produce flowers and seeds. They evolved around 100 million years ago, and today there are approximately 72 different seagrass species that belong to four major groups. Seagrasses can form dense underwater meadows, some of which are large enough to be seen from space”
Algae blooms pollute water and block sunlight from the grass. Much of the manatee’s grazing has been curtailed as a result. Manatees starved and emergency feeding stations had to be set up.
Manatees are often killed in collision with watercraft. They can be trapped in nets, too.
They were delisted from special protection in 2016 and now calls for re-listing them are being heard.
Manatees are large, slow-moving and almost entirely vegetarian. They are quite popular. The late singer Jimmy Buffett was a long-time defender of the “sea cows” and a co-founder of the Save the Manatee Club.
According to Florida’s The Observer the die-off is casuing the federal government to consider re-listing manatees under the Endangered Species Act. A record 1,100 died in 2021. Subsequent years have also been troubling for the creatures, estimated to number about 6,300 in Florida. World wide there are perhaps 13,000.
Perhaps the news is less bleak than many believe. A new report estimates there may be 11,000 manatees in Florida, about twice as many as the lower estimate.Moreover, the death rate has dropped sharply in the last three years. This year’s mortality rate is about half of the 2021 figure.