See the iconic Florida manatees as they keep fighting for survival

CRYSTAL RIVER, Fla. – Ripples from the August rain made it hard to see what was happening in the water under the tour boat: manatees snacking on a salad bar of seagrass.

After decades of being classified as endangered, manatees had recovered to a point that the federal government in 2017 reclassified them as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act, a move some environmental groups decried as premature. 

Now, the decision could be reversed. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently announced it would review the status of the West Indian manatee, including populations in Florida and Puerto Rico. The move came after a manatee die-off in Florida and petitions from environmental organizations to reconsider, given those deaths and other issues with pollution and water quality.

Sara Newman helps people connect with the manatees from a safe distance as a swim guide with River Ventures in Crystal River. During a recent tour, she gave some rules before leaving the boat to float in the water with the manatees.

There are warnings against corralling manatees. And – of course – people aren't allowed to touch.

The rain obscures most of the view below the surface, but a few of Florida’s slowest residents are still visible. Newman said she believed one of the manatees was pregnant, an exciting development along the canals they call home.

“We're basically swimming in the manatees’ house," Newman said. "You know, we're in their bedroom, their bathroom, their living room. So we wanna be completely respectful of them.”

Danger still lurks in the water for manatees: Newman said boat strikes, habitat loss, and cold stress during the winter are three of their biggest killers.

Almost 10,000 manatees live in Florida, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The estimate is based on abundance surveys conducted in December 2021 on the state's west coast and early December 2022 on its east coast.

Challenges for the manatee in Florida

James "Buddy" Powell, chief zoological officer at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, has been working for decades to help preserve endangered species.

Water quality issues in the state remain a top concern for manatees, Powell said. That includes algal blooms, which can cut off the food supply by blocking the sunlight seagrasses need to grow. He has also been looking into unusual mortality events, or UMEs, manatees have faced in recent years. In 2021, more than 1,000 manatees died in a UME, due to starvation on the East Coast, according to Save the Manatee, a nonprofit that works to protect the species and their home.

“You educate people, you slow boats down, you create sanctuaries. But what's been going on all on the East Coast is much, much more complex," Powell said.

Nutrients and pollutants that flowed into the Indian River Lagoon fed massive blooms of algae. When manatees returned to areas in the lagoon to stay warm in the wintertime, there's limited food available, he said.

"And so consequently what has happened is that manatees have been starving to death, and so they've needed to be rescued,” he said.

On the west coast, in Tampa Bay, there was a more than 15% decrease in seagrasses from 2018 to 2020, according to the wildlife commission.

Rescuers are helping keep manatees alive

Despite conservation efforts, some manatees still need help from humans to survive. That's where rescuers come in.

At ZooTampa, orphaned calves are cared for, including bottle-feeding every few hours. Calves are dependent on their moms early in life, and a stranding (when they become separated from their mom) can most likely mean death. 

“Our goal is to rehab and release all the manatees that we have. So we want to make sure that we stay as hands-off as possible. So we do start with getting them comfortable,” said Molly Lippincott, the senior curator of Florida and marine life at ZooTampa.

ZooTampa has released more than 200 manatees into the wild since 1991. It's one of multiple organizations working to rehabilitate them. 

“So many species around the world are having problems, and us as humans have created a lot of those problems,” Lippincott said. “But it's our turn now to try to fix some of those issues.”

For people who live around manatees, the wildlife commission says doing the following can help keep them safe:

• Dispose of and recycle fishing line properly. 
• Avoid chemicals in your lawn or garden. 
• Clean up roadside or beachside trash and litter.
• Follow proper boating safety.