Comeback critter: Florida manatee

The manatee calf flips and tumbles beside her mother in the clear, warm water of Blue Spring State Park near Orange City, Florida. Tourists snap photos from a platform nearby. Conservationists are excited to see the mother manatee—named Annie—with her newborn, called Naui (NOW-ee). Just a few decades ago, as few as 14 manatees swam through these freshwater springs, and scientists worried that these marine mammals might disappear from Florida forever. 

Manatee emergency

Before European settlers arrived in the United States, up to 10,000 manatees lived off the coast of Florida. But the settlers hunted the slow-moving animals for their meat and fat, which they used for lamp oil, until only a few hundred were left. By the mid-20th century, the hunting had stopped, but the remaining manatees faced new threats. These mammals often glide near the water's surface to breathe—directly in the path of boats. Each decade brought more people and their boats to Florida, making life dangerous for manatees.

Those people created other dangers as well. Manatees don’t have blubber like seals and walruses, so they can’t survive long in temperatures below 68°F. But the natural warm springs where manatees spent winters resting and raising their young were also popular hangouts for people. Too frightened of humans to enter the springs from chillier waters, many manatees died. “These gentle animals desperately needed help,” says biologist Patrick Rose, director of the Save the Manatee Club. 

On the mend

Scientists nominated the species to be in the first group of animals protected by the Endangered Species Act of 1973, which gives government agencies in the United States the power to protect endangered animals’ habitat and makes it illegal to kill or harass certain species. Two years later, a group of kids campaigned to make the manatee Florida’s state marine mammal, which helped spread the word about them. 

Over the next decades, Florida officials worked with local governments to create protected spaces for manatees called sanctuaries. People aren’t allowed to swim, boat, or fish in these areas, giving manatees a safe place to rest. Just outside the sanctuaries, they created slow-speed zones for boaters, which helps reduce the number of manatees injured by boats. The Save the Manatee Club also gave away “Go Slow!” banners that boaters could hold up if someone spotted a manatee outside of a protected zone. “Every manatee matters for the survival of the species,” Rose says. 

Manatees forever

In 2019 experts reported that some 7,000 manatees are living along the Florida coast, far more than the number living there during the mid-20th century. The hard work done to protect manatees and their habitat worked—but conservationists know they aren’t done. “The population’s recovering, but threats to these manatees certainly still exist,” says Ron Mezich, a biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. 

Today more than 700 manatees, including Annie and Naui, spend the winter in Blue Spring State Park. Visitors can observe the pair from a dock, and conservationists keep watch over all the park’s manatees. Hopefully Naui is a sign that other manatees will survive in Florida for years to come.