So far, it’s shaping up as a bad year for manatees in Florida. Indeed, 86 have been hit and killed by boats in just the first six months of the year, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. If that rate continues, the number of manatee deaths will set a new record.
Boats killed 122 manatees in Florida last year. If the current pace continues, that number will grow to 172 this year. The greatest number of boat-caused manatee deaths so far this year – 21 – has been in Lee County, the Fort Meyers, Sanibel and Captiva area.
“More manatees and more boats are in the same area,” Michelle Kerr, a spokeswoman for the Commission told the Fort Myers News-Press, “and it can be due to high boating activity when the weather is good.”
All told, the commission said that 824 manatees died in Florida last year; the record was 830 in 2013. More than 200 deaths were attributed to the toxic red tide.
Pat Rose, of the Save the Manatee Club, said the number of manatees killed by boats so far this year is “extraordinary.” She said, “It’s no way that that there are that many more manatees. It’s boating behavior and the weather.”
The boating-related deaths in Lee County are spread across the various waterways and lakes there. But the growing number of deaths, Ms Rose said, “are fully indicative that manatees are in peril.” Read more:
