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State officials said more manatees have actually died this year than any other year in Florida’s recorded history, primarily from starvation due to the loss of seagrass beds.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reports that 841 manatee deaths were recorded between January 1 and July 2, breaking the previous record of 830 deaths in 2013 due to the spread of toxic red tides.
The TCPalm news site reported that more than half of the deaths occurred in the Indian River Lagoon and surrounding areas in Volusia, Brevard, Indian River, St. Lucy and Martin counties. The vast majority of deaths were at Brevard, where 312 sheep were killed.
Manatees swim in Blue Spring State Park in Volusia County, Florida, in this 2015 file photo. Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Some biologists believe that water pollution is killing seaweeds in the area.
“Unprecedented starvation of manatees has been documented on the Atlantic Coast this past winter and spring,” the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute wrote. “Most of the deaths occurred during the colder months when manatees migrated to and across the Indian River Lagoon, where the majority of seaweed died out.”
Boat strikes are also a major cause of manatee deaths, having killed at least 63 this year.
The manatee was once classified as critically endangered by the federal government, but was reclassified as endangered in 2017. Conservationists are calling for the animal to be considered endangered again.
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They are getting support from some local and state officials. WTSP CBS Tampa Bay reports that Republican Congressman Verne Buchanan wrote a letter last month to the US Fish and Wildlife Service urging it to reclassify this “beloved and iconic mammal” as critically endangered rather than threatened given the massive increase in manatee deaths.
“Time is of the essence,” Buchanan wrote.
The federal government says approximately 6,300 manatees live in Florida waters, up from about 1,300 in the early 1990s.
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