Manatees

Calling declines in the manatee population since 2017 “dramatic” a coalition of groups have petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to increase protections for the aquatic mammal.The Center for Biological Diversity, Harvard Animal Law & Policy Clinic, Miami Waterkeeper, Save the Manatee Club and Frank S. González García filed the petition Monday. The petition urges the federal wildlife agency to reclassify the species from threatened to endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will include more than $30 million in the state's 2023 budget to try and figure out why record numbers of manatees are dying in Florida waters. Scientists blame agriculture and development for polluting the rivers where manatees live.

This past January, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Manatee Rescue and Rehabilitation Partnership released a rehabilitated female manatee in the outflow area next to Manatee Lagoon, an FPL Eco-Discovery Center in West Palm Beach.

Manatees vocalize while feeding, resting, or playing using high-pitched squeaks, squeals, squeak-squeals, and chirps. Learn about innovative research being conducted at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota exploring how and why manatees vocalize.

State officials are doubling their funding for Florida wildlife officials to help manatees recover from what appears to be a mass die-off due to starvation.

We are all connected by the environment we share. The Earth is our home. This is the space where we share the environmental stories that caught our attention this week, in Florida and beyond.

A St. James City man was arrested this week on charges related to harassment of manatees and other wildlife. 68-year-old Gary Stone was arrested on a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission warrant and charged with disturbing marine turtles, eggs or nests, which is a third-degree felony and harassment of manatees which is a second-degree misdemeanor and a violation of the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act.

A video of a manatee with "Trump" etched onto its back recently went viral, and now the actor is offering an award to anyone who can identify the person that did it.

Preliminary data from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission finds that 619 threatened manatees died in Florida waters in 2020, which is an increase from the previous year. The number of recorded deaths caused by boat strikes last year was down last year, but environmental advocates say that’s likely due to fewer necropsies being performed due to pandemic-related restrictions.We’re joined by Senior Florida Campaigner with the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity Sarah Gledhill for a breakdown of the latest manatee mortality data and a look at an effort to increase boater safety education requirements in Florida, which could help protect the slow-moving manatees.

State wildlife officials say fewer manatees died in 2019 in Florida compared with the year before.