Brevard County’s 1,000th Manatee Carcass
Is Recovered on February 16
 |
A manatee suffering from cold stress was recently rescued in Brevard County and died enroute to the boat ramp. The manatee is the 1,000th one to die in Brevard County. (Photo courtesty of FWCC) |
By Sandra Clinger, East Central Florida Regional Coordinator
and Suzanne Tarr, Staff Biologist
The 15th manatee carcass recovered in 2005 started out as a rescue by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWCC), but the manatee died enroute to the boat ramp. The manatee was young, probably spending its first winter on its own, and was suffering from severe cold stress when biologists arrived on the scene. This manatee has the dubious distinction of being the 1000th manatee carcass recovered in just one Florida county -- Brevard -- since record keeping began in 1974. Now is the time to pause and reflect on how important Brevard County is to manatees; how far we’ve come in securing necessary and important protection measures in the county; and how this sad, failed rescue serves as a harsh reminder that our work is not nearly finished, in Brevard County or across the state.
Hundreds of manatees use Brevard County waters traveling to points north and south, to feed in lush seagrass beds in the Banana River, and to bask in warm water at local power plants during the winter. Protecting manatees from physical harm and protecting habitat are two primary goals of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Florida Manatee Recovery Plan. As such, both the USFWS and the FWCC implemented manatee protection speed zones. Brevard County finally succeeded in implementing a state-approved Manatee Protection Plan (MPP) in 2003. Task forces made up of agencies, stakeholders, and citizens work to find solutions on education, signage, entanglement, and warm water issues, to name a few.
Yet, even with these much needed protection measures, manatees continue to die in Brevard County. Some deaths are expected. After all, everything dies eventually of something. Even some human-related watercraft- and entanglement-related deaths are still going to occur, but the goal is to reduce these preventable deaths and minimize their impact on the species as a whole, if manatees are to be truly recovered as a species.
Even with the number of manatees living, and dying, in Brevard County, some groups continue to make every effort for adequate protection measures and long-term survival strategies an ongoing battle. For conservationists, it’s a fight to get, and keep, even the most minimal protection measures for manatees. In spite of the best available science, speed zones are challenged and variances and exemptions to the MPPs and other rules are requested and approved. It’s not much better elsewhere.
On both the state and federal levels, annual attacks are made on the laws that protect the endangered manatee and manatee habitat. After being petitioned by a fishing group, which objected to slowing their boat speeds, the FWCC is considering the premature downlisting of the manatee on the state level. This change would not reflect an actual improvement in the manatee’s plight, but would instead be a political decision based on FWCC’s extremely limited definition of “endangered”. The FWCC’s own study shows that 50% of the manatee population could be lost over the next 45 years. Slowly reproducing species like manatees can have rapid population losses, but are very slow to recover population numbers. While it only takes a second for an accidental collision to end a manatee’s life, it takes four to five years for a female to reach a reproductive age.
The threats to the manatee’s long-term survival are rising. Natural warm water springs are already experiencing decreased flow rates from human consumption of ground water and the future of the artificial warm water sites is at risk from changes in operation and shut downs. More than one million boats use Florida waters. As this number rises, so does the risk for manatee/boat collisions. The impacts to the population of boat-related non-fatal injuries have not been addressed, not to mention the offensive, inhumane nature of these injuries. Development increases stormwater runoff entering and clouding the waterways, decreasing water quality and causing seagrass habitat degradation.
The FWCC and the USFWS, tasked with protecting manatees and manatee habitat, must keep conservation efforts, including additional protection measures, comparable with the cumulative and expected threats from human activities in manatee habitat. Habitat issues including the restoration and protection of seagrass and warm water sites, including natural springs, must be a priority. MPPs and permitting regulations must adequately protect the resource, including manatees. Law enforcement agencies must have the funding, personnel, and working equipment to keep up with the increased number of people and boats coming to Florida. Otherwise, without constant assessment and vigilance, what progress we have made can just as easily be undone.
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