Wildlife agencies say rehabilitation facilities are making more room for Florida’s ailing manatees, as an unprecedented die-off continues.
The agencies say 106 manatees were rescued last year in Florida. Manatees in the Indian River Lagoon have been especially hard-hit by water quality problems and seagrass losses.
The manatees have been treated at rehabilitation facilities from Puerto Rico to Ohio, although most have remained in Florida.
“Some of these animals, when they come in they really need excessive tubing and fluids and nutrition to help save their life and to start putting weight on and get them back into a healthy state,” said Terri Calleson of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Many have been treated at SeaWorld Orlando, where an expansion of its rehabilitation facility is scheduled to be complete early this year. A record 1,100 manatees died in Florida in 2021.
