619 manatees died in Florida waters in 2020.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission released its preliminary manatee mortality report showing that 2020 was one of the deadliest years on record – the 5 year average is 569 manatee deaths.
90 manatees were killed by boats in 2020, that's about 15 percent of the total.
Another 107 died at birth or shortly afterward.
Cold stress killed 52 more and 66 deaths were by unknown causes.
50 manatees were known to have died of natural causes.
6 of the deaths occurred in Franklin County and the deaths were spread across local waters including Eastpoint, Apalachicola, Alligator Harbor, Carrabelle, St. Theresa and the Ochlockonee Bay.
The manatees were found in January, February, May, September and October.
One of the deaths was a baby manatee who likely died at birth.
The others are of unknown causes as necropsies were not performed.
There were no reported manatee deaths in Gulf county waters.
There was one manatee death in Wakulla County – it was found in August in the St. Marks River.
There was no necropsy performed.
Manatees are no longer listed as an endangered species by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
In 2017 the federal government re-designated West Indian manatees as threatened.
If you find a sick or injured manatee you should report it to the Florida Wildlife Alert Hot line at 888-404-3922.
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