TAMPA, Fla. — Warming waters in Florida mean manatees are venturing away from warming sites along the state's east coast; it also means that by springtime the state's feeding program will come to an end.
Still, while the sea cows are moving away from the feeding site, wildlife officials say starvation will continue to be an issue for the animals throughout the year.
More than 80 rescued manatees are in rehabilitation centers across the U.S. as officials continue to try to stem starvation deaths due, in part, to poor water quality.
The latest numbers were released Wednesday by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as part of an unprecedented effort to feed starving manatees and treat those in distress.
The state has provided about $1.2 million for the treatment effort, officials said, with the rest of the increasing costs borne by facilities such as the SeaWorld rescue program in Orlando. There are 13 such locations at aquariums and other facilities in Florida, Texas, Ohio, Puerto Rico and elsewhere.
“It's a huge effort and they do a fantastic job,” Terri Calleson of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service told the Associated Press. “A lot of it is happening on their dime.”
According to Calleson, over the last 18 months, SeaWorld Orlando has taken about 106 rescued manatees into its care.
The response from SeaWorld and other facilities comes as manatees continue to die along Florida's east coast because the seagrass, on which they normally feed during cold winter months, is disappearing. The main reason is polluted water from sources such as agricultural fertilizer runoff, wastewater discharges and urban sources.
Last year, more than 1,100 manatee deaths were recorded largely due to starvation, well above the typical five-year average of about 625 deaths. In 2022, through Feb. 25, 375 manatee deaths have been listed, only nine from collisions with boats, according to state wildlife commission statistics.
The experimental feeding program using romaine and butter lettuce continues seven days a week at a Florida Power & Light plant in Brevard County along the east coast where hundreds of manatees typically gather in cold months in the plant's warm water discharge area.
As of Wednesday, more than 110,000 pounds of romaine and butter lettuce have been given to the manatees since the start of the supplemental feeding program.
The food is paid for mostly by donations to the non-profit Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida.
There are an estimated 8,800 manatees in Florida waters. That’s a big improvement from the roughly 2,000 animals in the 1990s and part of the reason sea cows were delisted from endangered to threatened by the federal government.
Officials say it's important for people in Florida's coastal areas to report any sick or distressed manatees they see so they can be brought to a rehabilitation center.
“Overall, we view these rescue efforts as successful. This is a small victory for us,” Andy Garrett, manatee rescue coordinator for the state wildlife commission, told AP.
But officials also stressed the approach of warmer weather does not mean the starvation problem is over, especially since some of the slow-moving, round-tailed animals will need extensive treatment.
“This need does not stop with the end of cold weather this year,” said Jon Peterson, rescue operations manager at SeaWorld. “Some of the animals have been here a long time. It does take time.”
If you see any marine life in distress, you should give FWC or Mote a call. You can report sick, injured, or dead manatees by calling 888-404-FWCC.
Mote has a 24/7 hotline number for reporting distressed, injured, or deceased sea turtles, manatees, dolphins, or whales in the Sarasota/Manatee region. Just call 888-345-2335 if you see a problem.