According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), manatees are having their worst year on record in 2021. Just halfway through the year, at least 841 have died – over double the highest death rate of any year in recorded history!

The FWC has declared an Unusual Mortality Event (UME) for the manatees along Florida’s Atlantic Coast. This means the event is unexpected and involves a significant die-off of a marine mammal population, and requires immediate response. 

The driving factor of this increase in manatee fatalities is a lack of food (seagrass). Things are even worse for the species in winter, when there is not enough food in the warmer temperatures they favor. The gentle marine mammals require warm water, so they’ll eventually choose to forgo feeding to stay in the warmer temperatures.

In 2017, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), downgraded the marine mammals’ Endangered Species list status from endangered to threatened, which doesn’t have the same level of protection. To help ensure the survival of manatees and their habitat, it’s critical that the federal government restores the manatees’ status as endangered. This will also provide more resources and funding for the people already working to save manatees on the ground.

Sign the petition to tell Martha Williams, the Principal Deputy Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to put manatees back on the endangered species list!