Florida - Wednesday March 29, 2023: With the end of winter and the return of warmer waters to the Indian River Lagoon, conservation officials have announced that the manatee feeding program has ended for now. Although, its likely to resume again next year.
“The temporary field response station has been closed down," said John Wallace is with the Fish and Wildlife Service "We’ve removed all of our coolers, all of our infrastructure from that property and turned it back over to Florida Power and Light.”
The second winter season feeding hungry manatees began this past December 6th and lasted 85 days. 399-thousand pounds of lettuce was feed to manatees during those days. And an average of 125 manatees turned out each day at the FP&L warm water feeding in Port St. John.
Conservation officials say that the manatees have looked healthier throughout this past feeding season, and there have been far fewer deaths, just 163 recorded this year so far this year. And most of those deaths were not in the Indian River Lagoon.
One of the possible reasons cited for the improved outlook has been the re-growth, in certain isolated areas, of sea-grass. But, FWC veterinarian Dr. Martine DeWitt cautioned that the manatee’s primary source of food remains scarce and unstable.
"While the sea grass did come back in certain locations, any setback can have an impact on manatees again," she said. "Another concern is that the forage situation near warm water sites still does not provide a lot of options for manatees.”
And the die off over the past three years has long term consequences said DeWitt. “We expect to see long lasting health effects from such a significant impact of malnutrition on manatees. And we also have to see what it does to their reproduction in the coming years, so this is still an unusual mortality event.”
To report a tagged, sick, injured or dead manatee call the FWC's Wildlife Alert Toll-Free Number: 1-888-404-FWCC (1-888-404-3922), press "7" to speak with an operator.
Cellular phone customers should enter - *FWC or #FWC.