By all accounts, it has been a difficult year. A pandemic that became a political football taking over four million lives … record temperatures baking much of the West as the earth heats up … and Olympic Games being held without spectators … but if misery loves company (and we are told that it often does) the so-ugly-that-it-is-cute West Indian manatee is here for us.
These sizable marine mammals (adults reach lengths of up to eleven feet and weigh between 900 and 1000 pounds) are having a bad year as well. And they can ill afford it. According to some estimates there are less than 10,000 members of the species surviving today, with roughly 6,000 inhabiting the coastal waters, rivers and estuaries of Florida. The animals are naturally tame and will readily approach humans. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) monitors the population closely and keeps a record of those who die or are killed (speedboat and manatee collisions rarely go well for either one).
In 2013, an outbreak of toxic red tide claimed the lives of a record 830 manatees. Unfortunately, that record was swept away this month. More than 841 manatees were known to have died during the first six months of the current year. At that rate, some 1,700 manatees may be lost in 2021. The culprit appears to be pollution … human wastewater and runoff has overloaded the estuaries…
