FWC reports additional 15 manatee deaths in Lee County
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has documented an additional 15 manatee deaths in Lee County since announcing the deaths of 25 manatees last week from a cold stress event around Manatee Park.
While the more recent deaths haven’t been given a singular cause, the majority are believed to be due to cold stress with one of the deaths due to a watercraft collision in the Orange River off Fort Myers.
There were 40 manatee deaths recorded in Lee County between Feb. 14 and Feb. 20.
While the FWC has not attributed a single cause for the cold stress event, the FWC identified an unplanned shutdown of a Florida Power & Light plant near Manatee Park off of SR 80. The plant, located outside of Fort Myers near the area where manatees congregate during cold periods of the winter, is considered to be a potential contributing factor. The FWC said this week that the power plant has since resumed operations.
No other counties in the state have had as large of a mortality event for manatees as Lee County has recently. Lee County leads the state in manatee mortalities this year from both cold stress and watercraft collisions.
Florida Power & Light has referred requests for comment back to the FWC. In response to a recent inquiry from the Fort Myers Beach Observer, the media relations team for FP&L said “We are aware that FWC is investigating manatee deaths at Manatee Park. We are coordinating closely with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).”
In Lee County, 12 of the 58 deaths have been attributed directly to cold stress; 33 manatees have not been necropsied. Of the 155 manatee deaths so far this year in Florida, 72 of the manatees have not been necropsied to determine a cause.
Of the 58 manatee deaths in Lee County this year, eight were attributed to watercraft collisions. No other county in the state has more than two fatal watercraft collisions resulting in a manatee death this year.
The FWC also announced that six manatees were rescued from the waters in Lee County and in Sarasota County in the last week. The manatees were transported to ZooTampa and Sea World for rehabilitation.
The rescues occurred in several locations between Feb. 19 and Feb. 25, including the Caloosahatchee and Orange rivers, Venice, Alva and Fort Myers.
Statewide, 24 manatees have been rescued so far this year and over 20 rehabilitated manatees have been released through the efforts of the Manatee Rescue & Rehabilitation Partnership
The latest mortality event brings the number of dead manatees in Lee County to 58 so far this year, far outpacing Brevard County, which has the second-most manatee deaths in the state this year with 15 deaths. In Brevard County, seven of the 15 deaths have been blamed on cold stress.
FWC staff continues to monitor and respond to the local elevated manatee mortality event due to cold stress in Lee County and surrounding areas.
During the historic cold-weather event, FWC staff confirmed the Florida Power & Light Fort Myers plant was compliant with the terms of its license and manatee protection plan criteria; there is no FWC investigation regarding FPL.
“FPL is a key partner with a long history of supporting the FWC’s manatee conservation efforts and has agreed to go beyond its license terms to mitigate the impacts of future cold-weather events at this and other industrial sites across the state,” officials said.
Manatees are highly dependent on safe and reliable warm-water sites to survive the winter. As water temperatures drop below 68 degrees Fahrenheit, Florida’s manatees seek refuge at springs, power plant discharge areas and other warm water sites where they’ll spend the winter until temperatures rise again in spring.
Editor’s note: The photo with this news story is a previously published photo depicting live manatees at Manatee Park.
To reach NATHAN MAYBERG, please email nmayberg@breezenewspapers.com