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Spotting starving manatees is easy enough. You can see their ribs through their skin. They come to the surface to breathe more than usual. Those who need it most seem unbalanced and lined up to one side.
As manatee deaths skyrocket and Florida rescue centers are flooded with malnourished manatees to require medical attention, federal and state wildlife officials are taking an unprecedented step for the species: They will provide food for hundreds of manatee in a prime location in the eastern part of the state. making an urgent effort to overwinter them.
“The results are too dire not to at least try it out,” said Patrick Rose, executive director of Save the Manatee Club, a nonprofit group that supports aquatic mammals.
The decision is difficult, because scientists have discovered that feeding wild animals can sometimes do more harm than good. But Florida’s already endangered manatees suffered disastrous losses last year. Statewide, more than 1,000 people died in 2021, a record. (In 2016, about 8,800 of the mammals remained in Florida waters. state wildlife officials.)
A joint task force of state and federal officials attributed the increased deaths to the loss of seagrass in the Indian River Lagoon, a 156-mile estuary where manatees, also known as sea cows, seek warm water during the winter months.
Seagrass was killed by algal blooms, fueled largely by human waste and manure runoff from lawns and farms; This is a problem that has been around for decades. Duane De Freese, a marine biologist and executive director of the Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program, said that as more people move into the area and the wastewater infrastructure ages, more waste seeps into the estuaries.
Dr. “The manatee condition is a symptom,” De Freese said. “It looks like we hit a tipping point in 2011.”
Since then, seagrass has died out every year, he said, and it’s now down about 90 percent. The problem is expected to worsen as climate change brings more severe storms to the region and sea levels rise.
Mr Rose, an aquatic biologist striving to make this happen, said manatee feeding would be experimental and limited. While wildlife officials are expected to release details Wednesday, he said the program will likely include products such as cabbage and lettuce, similar to those manatees were given to eat when taken in captivity for rehabilitation.
“We hope they will get it,” said Mr Rose. “There is no guarantee.”
Effort comes with risks. Boat attacks also kill manatees, so getting them more acclimated to ships or humans can be deadly. The feeding program is expected to include measures to try to avoid such collisions and to clean up uneaten produce so that it does not cause further algae growth.
Research focusing on other species shows that while feeding wildlife is well-intentioned, it can disrupt migration patterns, spread disease, and have a host of other undesirable consequences. Short-term benefits may evaporate over time. Professor Terry Messmer, a study of mule deer after the animals suffered during the extreme winter season, said that in a group of deer that received food after two years, survival increased and reproduction was better, but after five there was no difference. It’s at Utah State University, which led the research. Deer that took food stayed longer in winter range and suffered a surprising number of vehicle collisions.
But humans are already drastically changing the ecosystems on which animals depend. Dr. Messmer said the important thing is to proceed carefully and solve the root problem.
“This is a teachable moment,” he said of the manatees. “It is unfortunate that there are so many of these teachable moments in our country and around the world.”
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