Manatees

Two manatees are seen on Jan. 30, 2022, eating lettuce at a temporary feeding site set up by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission on the Indian River Lagoon ...

[671 ](https://myfwc.com/research/manatee/rescue-mortality-response/ume/)manatees were confirmed to have died in Florida this year. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM. In all, more than 2,100 are confirmed to have died since. The shallow, brackish waters of the lagoon's estuary system are considered both a primary habitat and migration route for manatees. [5,700 manatees ](https://myfwc.com/research/manatee/research/population-monitoring/synoptic-surveys/)in Florida in 2019. [FWC's wildlife hotline ](https://myfwc.com/research/manatee/rescue-mortality-response/rescue/)at 888-404-3922. [unusually warm winter](https://www.weather.gov/mlb/mlbdata?file=/summary/Winter2022.txt), helped ease the strain on the manatee population. [starvation](https://weather.com/news/news/2021-03-10-manatees-florida-starvation-indian-river-lagoon-seagrass). [unusual mortality event](https://myfwc.com/research/manatee/rescue-mortality-response/ume/)" that started in December 2020 in the already reduced manatee population. [killed off ](https://www.savethemanatee.org/how-to-help/take-action/floridas-algae-blooms/#:~:text=The%20loss%20of%20seagrass%20in,fertilizers%2C%20together%20with%20stormwater%20runoff.)much the lagoon's vast seagrass beds. That compares to [929 ](https://myfwc.com/media/28361/preliminary.pdf)by this time last year and a total of [1,101 ](https://weather.com/news/news/2022-01-11-florida-manatees-record-starving)by the end of 2021. [MORE: Manatee Freak Out Golden Retriever](https://weather.com/pets/video/golden-retriever-surprised-by-swimming-manatees))