Manatee killed in St Marks River
Posted: September 18th, 2009, 9:27 am
Florida manatee deaths up this year; St. Marks River manatee latest local death
By Amanda Nalley
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER
No one knows how long she floated there, ribs broken, bobbing on her side, air escaping her lung and filling her body cavity. The boat that hit her gray, slow-moving body was long gone from the St. Marks River when the 725-manatee was finally plucked from the water Aug. 24 by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission rescuers.
Fewer than 48 hours later, she died in her rehabilitation pool at Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo — one more manatee death in a year that has numbers far exceeding the five-year average of manatee deaths statewide.
“You hate to lose them, but because we get so many manatees in such despicable conditions, you can’t let yourself get upset,” said Virginia Edmonds, assistant curator of Florida mammals for the zoo.
Edmonds went to check on the injured manatee at 6 a.m. Aug. 26 and discovered the manatee had died overnight. The zoo’s David A. Straz Jr. Manatee Hospital has treated more than 200 manatees since it opened in 1991.
The St. Marks River manatee was the first confirmed death in Wakulla County since April 2005 and is the first one of the year for the coastal counties of Wakulla, Franklin, Gulf, Taylor and Jefferson. In December 2008, a Franklin County manatee died of cold stress.
Although manatee deaths in the Big Bend are rare, Florida is experiencing some of its highest manatee death numbers in five years.
As of Sept. 11, 349 deaths have been confirmed. The five-year average for Jan. 1 through Sept. 11 is 263.
This year's death toll has already surpassed 2008's total, which was 303 manatee deaths.
In 2006, 417 deaths were recorded by the end of the year, the highest tally in more than 10 years. This year’s tally for this point in the year has exceeded 2006 by 56 deaths.
Martine de Wit, FWC associate research scientist, said the increase can be attributed to numerous factors from a cold winter to better reporting of deaths to an increase in births.
Although cold stress and perinatal (manatees 5 feet in length or less) deaths are up, natural deaths, which include those attributed to red-tide events, have been fairly low this year.
But watercraft injuries, which can be prevented, have caused 77 deaths this year, slightly higher than the five-year average for this time of year of 64.
“If you look at manatees that are out there alive, they all have scar patterns from previous accidents,” de Wit said. “Everyone will get hit at some point.”
That doesn’t mean injuries can’t be serious and also prevented.
“Watercraft injuries can be so damaging,” she said. “Speed does have an impact on it. If you do hit a manatee, the damage might be less if you are going slow and you have more time to react.”
Mike Pruitt, St. Marks Yacht Club commodore and river homeowner, said he sees manatees almost as often as he sees speeding boaters on the river.
“It’s really concerned me that something serious is going to happen,” he said, not just in reference to the manatees but to boater safety. “I think the manatees are doing a pretty good job of staying out of the way of the people, but the people are not doing a good job of staying out of the way of the manatee.”
“We do encourage people because of the presence of manatees to slow up,” Stan Kirkland, FWC spokesman, said, but there is no specified speed limit on most of the St. Marks River.
“If we don’t start taking better care of the river and our natural resources we are going to lose them,” Wakulla County Commissioner Howard Kessler said.
Although there has been talk in the past of restricting parts of the river to smaller engines, nothing has come to the table recently, Kessler said.
“It is a terrible thing when these animals get injured,” he said.
To report an injured manatee call the FWC Wildlife Alert Hotline at (888) 404-3922.
By Amanda Nalley
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER
No one knows how long she floated there, ribs broken, bobbing on her side, air escaping her lung and filling her body cavity. The boat that hit her gray, slow-moving body was long gone from the St. Marks River when the 725-manatee was finally plucked from the water Aug. 24 by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission rescuers.
Fewer than 48 hours later, she died in her rehabilitation pool at Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo — one more manatee death in a year that has numbers far exceeding the five-year average of manatee deaths statewide.
“You hate to lose them, but because we get so many manatees in such despicable conditions, you can’t let yourself get upset,” said Virginia Edmonds, assistant curator of Florida mammals for the zoo.
Edmonds went to check on the injured manatee at 6 a.m. Aug. 26 and discovered the manatee had died overnight. The zoo’s David A. Straz Jr. Manatee Hospital has treated more than 200 manatees since it opened in 1991.
The St. Marks River manatee was the first confirmed death in Wakulla County since April 2005 and is the first one of the year for the coastal counties of Wakulla, Franklin, Gulf, Taylor and Jefferson. In December 2008, a Franklin County manatee died of cold stress.
Although manatee deaths in the Big Bend are rare, Florida is experiencing some of its highest manatee death numbers in five years.
As of Sept. 11, 349 deaths have been confirmed. The five-year average for Jan. 1 through Sept. 11 is 263.
This year's death toll has already surpassed 2008's total, which was 303 manatee deaths.
In 2006, 417 deaths were recorded by the end of the year, the highest tally in more than 10 years. This year’s tally for this point in the year has exceeded 2006 by 56 deaths.
Martine de Wit, FWC associate research scientist, said the increase can be attributed to numerous factors from a cold winter to better reporting of deaths to an increase in births.
Although cold stress and perinatal (manatees 5 feet in length or less) deaths are up, natural deaths, which include those attributed to red-tide events, have been fairly low this year.
But watercraft injuries, which can be prevented, have caused 77 deaths this year, slightly higher than the five-year average for this time of year of 64.
“If you look at manatees that are out there alive, they all have scar patterns from previous accidents,” de Wit said. “Everyone will get hit at some point.”
That doesn’t mean injuries can’t be serious and also prevented.
“Watercraft injuries can be so damaging,” she said. “Speed does have an impact on it. If you do hit a manatee, the damage might be less if you are going slow and you have more time to react.”
Mike Pruitt, St. Marks Yacht Club commodore and river homeowner, said he sees manatees almost as often as he sees speeding boaters on the river.
“It’s really concerned me that something serious is going to happen,” he said, not just in reference to the manatees but to boater safety. “I think the manatees are doing a pretty good job of staying out of the way of the people, but the people are not doing a good job of staying out of the way of the manatee.”
“We do encourage people because of the presence of manatees to slow up,” Stan Kirkland, FWC spokesman, said, but there is no specified speed limit on most of the St. Marks River.
“If we don’t start taking better care of the river and our natural resources we are going to lose them,” Wakulla County Commissioner Howard Kessler said.
Although there has been talk in the past of restricting parts of the river to smaller engines, nothing has come to the table recently, Kessler said.
“It is a terrible thing when these animals get injured,” he said.
To report an injured manatee call the FWC Wildlife Alert Hotline at (888) 404-3922.
