TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – Critical care across the nation is continuing for Florida’s manatees as the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reports over 300 animals have died this year during an ongoing Unusual Mortality Event.
FWC reports that as of Feb. 18, 326 manatees have died across the state, closing in on the year-to-date total for 2021, at 356 manatees and well above FWC’s 5-year average of 167 manatee deaths per year.
This is in part due to the Unusual Mortality Event, or UME, caused by seagrass die-off causing manatee starvation in Brevard County’s Indian River Lagoon.
In a Wednesday call, the Joint Unified Command partnership between FWC and the US Fish and Wildlife Service held a press conference to discuss ongoing rescues and releases of manatees, as well as the Manatee Rescue and Rehabilitation (MRP) partnership across the southeast.
There are currently 82 manatees across the partnership’s 13 facilities, including ZooTampa, SeaWorld Orlando and SeaWorld San Antonio, the Jacksonville, Cincinnati and Columbus zoos and more.
Manatees with cases related to the UME are recovering primarily at SeaWorld Orlando, the Jacksonville Zoo and Disney’s Living Seas. Animals no longer in critical condition who need more recovery time are often transferred between facilities with pool space, like the Bishop Museum of Science and Nature in Bradenton.
Jon Peterson, vice president of SeaWorld Orlando’s Zoological Operations and MPR partnership co-chair, said critical care space is always a challenge, as it takes time to assess a manatee’s status, especially those who are starving.
It also comes at the expense of a facility once grant money has been used.
“The cost to care for a manatee is extreme and when you’ve got them coming in at the numbers you do and then starvation and what that takes, it is huge,” Peterson said.
In regards to capacity, Terri Calleson, of the USFWS and the Joint Unified Command Rescue Branch, said she believes the partnership has “got quite a bit of spots on the table.”
“What I will caution everybody is that different cases take a different level of care and so it isn’t as simple as a hospital bed situation because some of those animals are requiring a lot more hands-on care,” Calleson said.
Calleson said they saw good results with the manatees that were rehabilitated for starvation last year.
It was noted during the press conference there will be no update next week regarding the UME unless things change. The next call is scheduled for March 9.
If you see a sick, dead or distressed manatee, call FWC’s Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC, *FWC or #FWC.