Because of the unusually high winter temperatures statewide, the gray, gentle giants that swim Florida’s rivers and springs enjoyed a better chance of survival last year.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission documented only 28 cold stress-related manatee deaths in 2012 — nearly 90 less than the year before, according to a FWC news release.
In 2011, the FWC reported 453 total manatee deaths, but 2012 only saw 392.
Kevin Baxter, a spokesman for the commission, said the uncharacteristically warm winter months factored into the difference.
He said manatees are susceptible to cold stress syndrome when the water temperature dips below 68 degrees Fahrenheit.
If manatees are exposed to cold water for a long time they could contract the illness, which causes weight loss, skin lesions, dehydration and eventually death, Baxter said.
In past years, the disease has caused more manatee deaths because they didn’t have enough time to reach warmer water before temperatures plummeted.
The FWC tries to keep waterways open for manatees to escape sinking temperatures to graze in warmer springs, Baxter said, and the temperatures of 2012 worked with them.
“We’re always working to make sure there are warm-water habitats accessible for manatees,” he said.
Jonathan Miot, director of the Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo, said the impacts of a higher 2013 manatee population on Florida’s aquatic environments and on the manatee population’s food supply, which includes underwater plants, are difficult to determine.
“It’s always tough to speculate about what that can mean, especially when you’re considering ecosystems,” he said. “In a warmer month, their food sources should grow to support them, but it’s always tough to say.”
If the manatees’ food supply doesn’t increase, Miot said, it could lead to more manatee deaths due to malnourishment.
“We’re glad their populations are up, but it’s tough to say what that means specifically,” he said. “That’s where we need more people to study them.”
Because two species of manatees are listed by the FWC as endangered and another species is considered “threatened,” Miot said, the increased manatee activity can be good for conservation, as well as Florida’s economy.
“It actually will help tourism if we do have more of them around and if it’s advertised appropriately,” he said.
Miot said appropriate advertising includes inviting the public to watch the manatees and discouraging approaching the animals in the wild.
Julie Wolf, owner of Florida Manatee Tours and Crystal River Watersports in Crystal River, said the warmer weather can have drawbacks for her business because manatees tend to be more visible when temperatures plummet.
“In the colder weather, they hover together,” Wolf, 64, said. “They’ll crowd in really close together to keep warm.”
But even with warmer temperatures, she said, finding manatees for sightseers hasn’t been an issue.
“I’m a native Floridian, and there’s always been manatees for me,” she said.“It’s the real Florida ... It’s a real, natural fantasy.”
