The race to save the shrinking pool of manatees is on in earnest.
Following a year where there were more than 900 manatee deaths in Florida alone, a trio of conservation groups have filed suit charging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with not providing adequate protections for them.
At the same time, U.S. Reps. Vern Buchanan and Darren Soto, both of Florida, have introduced legislation to designate manatees as endangered. Most experts attribute the rising death count to such factors as a loss of seagrass along the Atlantic Coast, triggering a lack of adequate food, and a worsening bout of red tide along the water.
“This year’s record-breaking number of manatee deaths is staggering and extremely concerning,” Buchanan said in a post to Twitter. “We must do everything we can to protect these gentle giants from extinction, which is why Rep. Soto and I introduced legislation to designate them an endangered species.”
With The Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife and the Save the Manatee Club all listed as plaintiffs, the suit claims “revised critical habitat is necessary to provide these imperiled marine mammals life-saving protections, to enhance their recovery and to reduce the risk of their extinction.”
The USFWS first designated critical habitat for manatees more than four decades ago with the status officially being designated in 16 Florida counties, according to the notice.
According to the suit, the federal government has failed to comply with changes in law aimed at assuring greater protections. After the animals were reclassified in 2017, from “endangered” to “threatened,” some are now pointing to this year’s record number of deaths as reason enough to reimpose the endangered classification.
House Resolution 4946, also known as The Manatee Protection Act, proposed by Buchanan and Soto, seeks to officially upgrade the West Indian manatee from “threatened” to “endangered” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), paving the way for more federal resources, including funding and personnel.
“Manatees are beloved, iconic mammals in Florida,” said Buchanan. “Upgrading their ESA status is absolutely critical."
