EcoWatch: Florida manatee deserves protection of the ESA

 “The manatee’s lament echoes in the deep, a cry for help from the ocean’s keep. Their home under threat, their numbers wane, yet they continue their peaceful reign. A plea for protection, a call to conserve. For the manatee’s future they deserve. May we heed their silent plea and protect these guardians of the sea.”

— Dan Higgins, writer, poet, teacher and storyteller

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 was the most comprehensive U.S. legislation to date for protecting imperiled species, expanding the authority to list species, designating critical habitats and coordinating federal and state conservation efforts.

In 1973, the manatee was recognized as a symbol of Florida’s marine life and a species of great ecological and cultural importance. It was named the State Marine Mammal.

The ESA was signed and passed on December 28, 1973. The bipartisan legislation was signed into law by President Nixon to protect critical imperiled species from extinction. The Florida manatee was placed on the Endangered Species List at this time.

While there are over a hundred species in Florida that will lose their endangered species classification, this column will question the decision to remove the manatee from the Act.

Let’s jump to 2017. The Florida manatee was reclassified from an endangered species to a threatened species under the federal ESA. This change in the species’ status was based on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) ongoing conservation effort and the manatee population at the time of the status change. After a five-year study, the Florida manatee was again denied endangered status and was listed officially as a threatened species. There are approximately 7,500 to 8,350 manatees in Florida waters as of 2025.

At the same time, the Antillean manatee, once listed as a threatened species in 2025, was elevated to endangered species status by the FWS. It is under their jurisdiction in certain areas, including Puerto Rico, and is federally protected under the ESA.

The reasons given for the protection under the Act were many: polluted water, poaching, loss of habitat, harassment and lack of protection for the species. There are 7,000 Antillean manatees left in the wild; however, only 312–535 of this species are left in Puerto Rico.

While it is apparent that the Antillean manatee is in drastic need of the protection under the ESA and should be classified as endangered, the Florida manatee should also have this protection, and the question is why it has not been given this designation.

News reports have shown that thousands of people wrote in their complaints on the decision by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC)  to downlist the manatee. Environmental organizations, 3,799 of them, also joined in opposing the decision to downlist the manatee. All have joined to fight the FWC’s decision.

According to reports, the Save the Manatee Club has been a vocal opponent of the FWS decision to keep the Florida manatee listed as “threatened” rather than endangered after the 2017 downlisting. The club argues that the agency’s 2025 finding did not fully address the species’ ongoing and worsening threats and that the current status leaves manatees vulnerable to future population declines.

Patrick Rose, executive director of the Save the Manatee Club, called the 2017 downlisting ridiculous and said manatees should never have been downlisted from the endangered list. The club maintains that the species’ biological current threats and past mortality events justify the highest level of protection under the Endangered Species Act, and questions why it has not been given.

The manatee is now facing extreme dangers to its existence in Florida waters. Some of the dangers they face every day are habitat loss, declining water quality, polluted runoff from agriculture and urban development, all degrading the waters they depend on.

Human development along coastlines can alter the coasts that manatees rely heavily on, affecting the seagrass meadows for food. Coastal construction, especially in areas like Tampa Bay and the Gulf Coast, has led to the destruction of these habitats. Pollution runoff from development fuels algae blooms that block the sunlight, killing seagrass in the Indian River Lagoon. The growing use of septic systems has caused seagrass to vanish, leaving manatees without their main food source.

There has also been a rash of vocal complaints that people have the right to develop coastlines, and permission has been granted.

Florida is the leading state in boat ownership in the United States. Also consider that Florida continues to lead the nation in boat-related incidents. In 2025, there were 694 accidents involving manatee collisions with boats and watercraft, with 79 to 96 fatalities. Twenty-eight percent were related to alcohol, failure to have lookouts, inexperienced drivers and excessive speed. Alcohol use alone has been a nightmare for the gentle manatee.

FWC reports that every manatee has scars from boat strikes; some have been hit more than once, and others have been killed. Boat owners resent having to follow all the existing rules to protect the manatees, and mortality figures reflect this.

Florida has over 1.2 million personal watercrafts. There are over 2,000 marinas and boat dealerships in Florida, and more people are relocating to Florida to join in the fun of owning a boat. Florida watercraft are the leading human-related cause of 25 to 26 percent of the manatees’ mortality.

This gentle giant offers so much more to the state, and the state should offer more to the manatee: the protection of the ESA, and you, who care.

Email Delores at gaiasvigil@gmail.com