Florida’s 2023 Manatee Migration Season
Bottom Line: Manatee migration season is here. It's a time in which manatees that spend much of the year hanging out in Florida’s more northern waterways make their way to South Florida’s warmer waters. This includes the annual migration to FPL’s ever popular Manatee Lagoon. While manatees are always present in South Florida’s waters, their numbers multiply this time of year. After record manatee deaths in recent years, including 2021’s mass mortality starvation event which brought about the winter lettuce feeding program, how many will be around to make their way back to South Florida this year?
A total of 1100 manatee deaths were documented in 2021 surpassing the previous record of 830 in 2013. Starvation was the leading cause of death and ground zero was the Indian River Lagoon. That’s not coincidental, it's the lagoon most susceptible to toxic algae discharges from Lake Okeechobee. It’s for these reasons Congressman Brian Mast and Governor DeSantis have fought the Army Corps of Engineers hard on the issue of discharges, along with pushing forward with the construction of the southern reservoir for Lake O’ runoff water and the effort to finish the Everglades Restoration Project to send water south into the Everglades, which is the natural flow. The crisis prompted the experimental lettuce feeding program implemented by FWC two winters ago, which was expanded by the state legislature last year, on the back of initial assessments suggesting it was successful in mitigating manatee starvation.
At the onset of this year’s migration, we’ve seen considerable improvement. Through November 3rd, according to FWC, a total of 491 manatees have died this year, a total which puts us on a pace for fewer than 600 manatee deaths this year which would be the lowest in three years. But is it progress? One of the outstanding questions is if we’re seeing fewer manatee deaths due to progress, or due to there simply being fewer manatees in existence after two years of significant deaths, which potentially totaled a third of Florida’s manatee population. We’ll have a better idea after the annual population estimates have been completed. In the meantime, all on the water can do their part. The one cause of death that is higher than last year is death via watercraft. 80 manatees have died in Florida’s waters due to being struck by watercraft, that’s up from 68 at the same time a year ago.