Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Florida responds to manatee death toll with $30 million
Florida manatee deaths are at more than 500 in just the first four months of 2022, a toll nearly equal to the fifth-deadliest year on record.
With that high rate of mortalities as a backdrop, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Monday in Jacksonville he will sign off on more than $30 million in manatee care, rehabilitation and other support allocated recently by the legislature.
The Save the Manatee Club praised the funding as a needed step in the right direction for a wildlife disaster that state and federal agencies refer to as an “unusual mortality event.”
“Due to the unprecedented severity of the ongoing Unusual Mortality Event — in which more than 1,600 manatees have died statewide over the last 16 months — these and additional extraordinary measures are called for in order to protect manatees and their critical habitat,” said Patrick Rose, the group’s executive director, in a statement.
Manatees are in their second year of an emergency brought on by starvation. Their primary food source along the Atlantic coast, seagrass, has been decimated by water pollution. Last year, the state counted the highest annual number of deaths on record at 1,101.
“This historic funding will support important restoration efforts across the state to benefit our manatees and Florida’s natural environment,” DeSantis said.
The funding will direct nearly $25 million to expand and upgrade the network of acute-care centers, such as one run by SeaWorld Orlando, restore manatee access to springs, restore seagrass and other habitat conditions where they concentrate and expand rescue and rehabilitation capacity.
The $25 million also will underwrite experimental responses such as the program to feed lettuce to manatees in Brevard County that ended recently.
Another $5.3 million will bolster manatee response abilities, including hiring 12 more employees for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. About $160,000 will support increased aerial surveys of manatees.
The Indian River in Brevard County has been particularly hard hit by seagrass losses and manatee deaths. Timing for the recovery of that ecosystem and declines in manatee deaths are uncertain at best.
The state wildlife commission and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service set up their emergency feeding program at a Florida Power & Light Co. power plant south of Titusville where manatees gather during winter cold snaps.
“We must insist that the state of Florida and the Environmental Protection Agency join forces to ensure that improved water quality standards are set and met if we are going to restore these aquatic ecosystems for the longterm future,” Rose said.