Save the Manatee Club

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Take Action for Manatees!

Ask President Biden and U.S. Senators to Protect Aquatic Habitat and Ensure Funding for Sick and Injured Manatees

The Issue:

Florida’s waterways are in crisis, and manatees are unmistakable victims. 2021 was the deadliest year on record for manatees, and 2022 is turning out to be equally horrific. On the Atlantic coast, manatees have died of starvation as the seagrass habitats they depend on for survival have disappeared, leaving them with nothing to eat. On the Gulf coast, manatees are dying due to acute toxicity from red tide. Harmful algal blooms throughout Florida are wreaking havoc on our waterways and our economy.

What You Can Do:

Please take a couple of minutes and urge President Biden and your U.S. senators to make sure the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is adequately addressing manatees in Florida and that the Environmental Protection Agency is accountable for achieving Clean Water Act standards for estuaries and other waterbodies that provide habitat for them. Ask them to support efforts of the Manatee Rescue and Rehabilitation Partnership with emergency funding to ensure that every sick and injured manatee will receive care.

Recipients

President Joseph 'Joe' R. Biden
Your Senators

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Message

Protect aquatic habitat and help distressed manatees

Dear [Decision Maker],

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Florida's waterways are in crisis, and manatees are unmistakable victims. The year 2021 was the deadliest year on record for Florida's manatees, and 2022 is proving to be just as tragic. On the Atlantic coast, hundreds of manatees died of starvation as the seagrass habitats they need for survival have been devastated by Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB) caused by too much human-fueled pollution, leaving them with little to eat.  On the Gulf coast, manatees have died due to acute toxicity from red tide.  Algal blooms are wreaking havoc on our waterways and our economy.

Hundreds of imperiled manatees have died in the Indian River Lagoon (IRL), one of Florida's most important estuaries. As the direct result of human derelictions over many decades, the lagoon has lost more than 90% in seagrass biomass from a high of over77,000 acres. In addition to being a primary food source for manatees, seagrass meadows are one of the most biologically-diverse ecosystems in the world. They supply food and shelter to seahorses, sea turtles, marine mammals, and birds, as well as commercially and recreationally-important fish that are vital to our economy.  It is estimated that the IRL alone generates over $7 billion annually to the local economy, a contribution that is undoubtedly being diminished by this ongoing crisis.

Your direct engagement is needed to ensure that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) uses the full authority of Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Marine Mammal Protection Act to stop this unprecedented mortality and to accelerate manatee recovery actions. To do so, however, will mean that the Environmental Protection Agency must reinitiate formal consultation under Section 7 of the ESA to use the power of the Clean Water Act to protect our estuaries and other waterbodies that are critical habitat for manatees.  Habitat and water quality are inextricably linked, and as such, EPA must reinitiate consultation with FWS to evaluate new information that shows current water quality standards do not protect seagrass as required.  Further, FWS acknowledged more than a decade ago that an update to manatee "critical habitat" is warranted under the Endangered Species Act but has failed to act.  In response to a notice of intent to sue, they have added this effort to their workplan, and it is imperative that a new definition of critical habitat that "includes physical and biological features essential for conservation of the species" is adopted by 2024, as proposed. The current definition of manatee critical habitat includes only locations and does not account for biological and physical attributes of all potential habitat. Notably missing from current critical habitat are Florida's major spring systems, which provide necessary refuge during cold winter months.

Lastly, the FWS must reconstitute the expert Manatee Recovery Team, which was disbanded more than a decade ago. While the FWS has continued to provide some support for the Manatee Rescue & Rehabilitation Partnership (MRP), more emergency funding is needed  to ensure that every sick and injured manatee will receive emergency care at partner facilities, which include several zoos and aquariums both in and outside of Florida. Record numbers of manatees need acute care, and these facilities do not have enough room for all of them. As a founding partner of the MRP, Save the Manatee Club has increased matching funds to support rescues, rehabilitation, and release and post-release monitoring, but more funding more must come from FWS during this Unusual Mortality Event. Other FWS-supported programs once supported under the Manatee Recovery Teams, such as the Manatee Implementation Team and Manatee Warm-Water Task Force, have been altogether abandoned and must be reconvened.

Manatees co-evolved over millions of years with our seagrass-based communities and are an essential species within our aquatic ecosystems. They are beloved icons of the state of Florida. Improving water quality, protecting the seagrasses upon which so many species depend, and providing care for sick and injured manatees must be given higher priority if we are to reverse these devastating losses.

Sincerely,