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LEE COUNTY, Fla. — Something we’ve been following lately is latest algal bloom sightings in Southwest Florida.
Those blooms may be lethal for animals — like fish and manatees — residing within the waters these blooms take over. Because of this, there’s been a rising concern from these inside the wildlife group that manatees might be endangered as soon as once more.
“I could see in the near future us having a hard time finding manatees.”
It’s a thought that would quickly turn out to be actuality— manatees going extinct.
“We’ve lost over half the population since 2017,” says Ranger Rob Howell, a naturalist and zoologist. “They’re dropping incredibly quickly.”
Between January 1st and July 15, a complete of 631 manatee deaths have been confirmed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Compare that to 864 throughout the identical timeframe final yr when a file variety of manatees died, most from an absence of their meals provide— sea grass — which has been repeatedly worn out by air pollution like crimson tide.
“The manatees are exposed to the toxins of a bloom like that,” says Martine de Wit, veterinarian with the FWC. “Those toxins stick to the sea grass and so they ingest that and they get an acute toxic reaction to that where they basically get paralyzed and they drown.”
It’s these threats that Ranger Rob is all too conversant in.
“The sea grass is diminishing much more rapidly than it has in the past so now the manatees seem a little more sporadic with where they’re going,” he says. “Trying to find more food, trying to find shelter and places like that where they can stay for the season.”
Howell says ongoing issues with air pollution and reckless boating have created a success to these meals provides. Pollution from fertilizers and boats shredding sea grass.
“The pollution from pesticides and herbicides and fertilizers when we shouldn’t be using fertilizers,” stated Howell. “That’s all going right into the water making it darker and cloudier. Then the sea grass itself can’t photosynthesize- it can’t grow, it can’t spread and it can’t survive.”
As it stands, manatees are listed as a ‘threatened’ species. They have not been considered endangered since 2017. But that could all soon change if we’re not mindful of our water loving neighbors…
“The fact that they’re not endangered doesn’t mean that there is no concern for them,” said de Wit.
“If we lose our water, mangrove timber, and manatees, we’re going to begin shedding individuals right here,” said Howell. “They’re not going to need to be right here. People come right here to get pleasure from it so don’t destroy it.”
If you see a manatee in misery or injured, you are requested to name the wildlife alert hotline at 1-888-404-FWCC.
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