It’s hard to say if there is an animal in Florida that is more loved than the manatee. This time of year, you can see them in great numbers near warm waters, like the ones around the Tampa Electric power station in Apollo Beach.
As you watch these gentle giants glide through the water, it can be hard to believe they are fighting for survival. Numbers fell sharply in 2020 as manatees faced an unprecedented threat of starvation. Current projections put their population close to 7,500.
A concerted effort is underway to restore the seagrass these animals eat, but new proposed legislation could endanger our progress.
Manatees face several threats, but the largest is simply having enough to eat. From 2020 to 2022, about 2,500 manatees died in our waters. Many starved to death.
A high percentage of those deaths happened on the Atlantic coast in the Indian River Lagoon, prompting state officials to investigate. They found out that seagrass beds were disappearing in record numbers. Nitrogen and phosphorus were fueling unprecedented algal growth that blocked out sunlight, killing the seagrass.