Manatee deaths from boats in Florida break record, state records show
Romy Ellenbogen
rellenbogen@pbpost.com
RIVIERA BEACH — Dozens of manatees float and bob into each other in the secure warm waters by the FPL power plant. Above and around them, dozens of people crane their necks for a view.
Some of the manatees have cuts on their rounded bodies, pink flesh offsetting the gray of their skin and offering clues to a difficult year.
In 2018, a time marked by red tide on top of typical hazards, the number of dead manatees in Florida totaled 804, nearly reaching an all-time high. Only a year earlier, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed the manatee from the endangered list and downgraded it to "threatened" status, according to CNN.
As the species concentrates off Palm Beach County and in neighboring waters, they may become either injured or killed from boaters. During 2018, five manatees in the county were killed by watercraft, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. A total of 55 manatees died in Palm Beach, Broward, Martin or St. Lucie county waters, the largest number in the past five years.
Lee County saw the highest total of manatee deaths in the state at 181, with Collier County just to its south third at 66. Brevard County on the Atlantic Coast saw the second-highest total of deaths at 116.
The number of manatees killed by a boat, 119, also broke a record, according to the FWC. Another 18 manatees died from what FWC described as "human causes."
The number of dead manatees spiked in 2013 with 830 recorded, then dropped off in 2014 when the FWC recorded only 371 dead manatees. Since then, the number has increased each year.
The high mortality can be partly blamed on red tide, harmful algae blooms that struck hard both along Florida's Gulf and Atlantic coasts. An FWC report said the bloom, mainly affecting Southwest Florida, has persisted since November 2017 and led to higher deaths in that region. The FWC issued a repeat mortality event in July 2018 for the red tide. FWC estimates about 200 manatees died in 2018 because of red tide.
On Thursday, Mary Destefani took family members visiting from Ohio to Florida Power & Light Co.'s Manatee Lagoon, despite few manatees being out. On cold days, manatees gather there to enjoy the warm water cast off by FPL's nearby power plant.
Destefani said she's been before to the observation center on cooler mornings and seen hundreds of manatees. The lagoon is an educational center that gives people information on the environment and what they can do to sustain it, an FPL spokesman said.
Though Destefani said she didn't know much about how to help protect the manatees, she said conservation areas help.
"Something like this is certainly a good start, because it gives them a safe haven," she said.