Florida-March 30,2022: This is the last week of the temporary manatee feeding trial. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Unified Command staff will stop providing lettuce to the remaining manatees at the end of this week. Most of the manatees who were congregating at the feeding site during the winter months have left as the waters in the Indian River Lagoon have warmed.
Once the feeding trial is completed daily monitoring will occur in the waters surrounding the Response Station in the Indian River Lagoon and staff and partners will continue responding to manatees in need of assistance.
The short-term supplemental feeding trial was carried out by wildlife experts and is now being discontinued to prevent negative impacts to manatee behavior and habitat. While residents may want to help manatees by attempting to feed them, please leave that to the experts. Feeding manatees is prohibited by state and federal law. An emergency exemption was granted to allow for authorized FWC and USFWS staff to provide food to manatees over the winter months. There have been an unusual number of manatee deaths over the past year, many have died from starvation due to the growing lack of sea grass in the Lagoon.
As manatees naturally disperse from warm-water refuges, people are more likely to see them along Florida’s waterways. If you see an injured, sick, orphaned or dead manatee, please contact the FWC’s Wildlife Alert at 888-404-FWCC (3922). It is essential that trained staff are called in to determine the best course of action.
As the manatees continue dispersing the Joint Unified Command’s support efforts are being scaled back to a spring and summer response mode. That does not mean the work ends. A core group will remain active for future planning and response efforts. The staff, volunteers, and our many partners within the Manatee Rescue & Rehabilitation Partnership will continue to work to rescue and care for manatees needing help. Recovery efforts will also continue as staff collect and examine carcasses to add to our understanding of this ongoing mortality event.
Boaters are also reminded to slow and look out while on the water and report any sightings of injured, sick or dead manatees to the FWC Wildlife Alert Hotline.
For more ways to help, visit: https://myfwc.com/research/manatee/rescue-mortality-response/ume/.
Statewide Manatee Rescues:
3/24 – The FWC and Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute rescued a male manatee with watercraft wounds and transported it to SeaWorld. Due to the extent of the animal’s injury, it was euthanized on 03/28/2022.
3/25 – The FWC and ZooTampa rescued a small emaciated male manatee in St. Petersburg. Unfortunately, the manatee died during transport to ZooTampa.
3/29 - FWC, Mote Marine Laboratory, and FPL staff rescued an emaciated manatee reported in Port Everglades. The adult female was transported to SeaWorld for rehabilitation.