Photo: Brian Mudd
Florida’s 2022 Manatee Migration Season
Bottom Line: Manatee migration season once again upon us. 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 (the picture used for this story of a mother and calf is from my backyard in September), their numbers multiply this time of year. But the question is, after last year’s record manatee mortality event, how many will be around to make their way back to South Florida this year?
A total of 1101 manatee deaths were documented in 2021 surpassing the previous record of 830 in 2013. Especially sad, 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 last winter which has been expanded by the state legislature this year.
At the onset of this year’s migration the surface level information looks improved. Through November 4th, according to FWC, a total of 734 manatees have died this year, a total which puts us on a pace for 800 manatees dying this year. While high, it would be a few hundred fewer than last year. But is that actually progress? Entering this year, estimates placed the total number of manatees at just over 6,000. That means we lost about 15% of the manatee population during last year’s mass mortality event. If current trends continue through year end, the news will barely be any better with over 13% of the remaining manatee population having died this year. Numbers can be deceiving without context and it’s safe to say that the manatee population can’t afford to continue to see double-digit losses in population for much longer and have a future. It’s imperative the Army Corps knocks off discharges from Lake O’, we need to do our part to be responsible stewards of our waterways and lets hope the states’ expanded lettuce program yields better results this winter.