A new state report shows that 475 manatees had died in 2024 in Florida as of last week.
Here are the counties with the most manatee deaths:
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- Brevard County: 85
- Lee County: 76
- Volusia County: 54
- Citrus County: 32
- Monroe County: 18
- Pinellas County: 18
- Miami-Dade County: 17
- Hillsborough County: 13
- Manatee County: 13
- Martin County: 12
- Sarasota County: 12
- Charlotte County: 10
- Glades County: 10
- Lake County: 10
Northeast Florida counties:
- Duval County: 5
- Clay County: 2
- St. Johns County: 4
- Nassau County: 1
- Putnam County: 4
- Flagler County: 3
Of the 475 manatees who have died so far this year, 81 were killed by a watercraft. Moreover, 140 deaths were perinatal meaning they happened around the time of their birth.
In contrast, 93 of the manatee deaths were perinatal in 2023.
While the perinatal manatee deaths have climbed this year, an FWC veterinarian told Central Florida Public Media in September that this is not “necessarily bad news.”
“The fact that we see these dead manatee calves could be a good sign of manatees coming back to reproduction,” Martine de Wit told Central Florida Public Media.
Read the FWC’s 2024 Preliminary Manatee Mortality Table below:
How can you help manatees?
- Maintain a healthy distance from manatees in the wild.
- Stay in the deep-water channels whenever possible, follow the speed zones, and when in doubt, move slower. Manatees can be severely and lethally injured by boat collisions. Avoid boating over seagrass beds and shallow areas, as this is manatees’ most used habitats.
- Consolidate your trash by keeping all trash in a safe part of the boat and away from the water. Do not discard monofilaments line, hooks, or litter into the water.
- Keep the Wildlife Alert Hotline number in-hand: 888-404-FWCC (3922). Cell phone users may dial *FWC or #FWC to report an injured, dead, harassed, or orphaned manatee.