Manatees, a familiar sight for Key Biscayne residents who often spot the gentle mammals feeding around Mashta Bridge, are facing renewed pressures statewide.
Florida has recorded 587 manatee deaths so far in 2025, slightly higher than the 565 reported during the same period last year, according to new reporting from Inside Climate News.
While this year’s fatalities remain far below the catastrophic losses seen in 2021–22, when seagrass collapse on the state’s east coast led to mass starvation events, wildlife officials say the underlying threats have not gone away. Chronic water-quality problems, sustained seagrass loss, boating collisions and cold stress continue to endanger the species, which is protected under both state and federal law…