Sign Today: Support ESA protections for imperiled Florida and Antillean manatees!

For years, manatees around Florida have been dying off at a staggering rate. Now the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to extend protections that aim to keep these animals from disappearing altogether.

In 2021, a record 1,100 Florida manatees were lost compelling the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to declare an Unusual Mortality Event (or “UME”).

The effects of that event continue, and manatees are still faced with many threats, from boat strikes to lack of habitat. Now the FWS is proposing that we list the two subspecies of the West Indian manatee separately under the Endangered Species Act, or ESA, for the first time. The Antillean manatee population in Puerto Rico would be recognized as endangered, while the Florida manatee would continue to be listed as threatened – with important protections kept in place for both subspecies.

Let the FWS know that you support ESA protections for Antillean and Florida manatees to save these marine mammals from more unnecessary and avoidable deaths!

Message

FWS-R4-ES-2024-0050-0001

Endangered and Threate...

Dear Mr. Basili and Ms. Mena,

I’m writing in support of the Service’s proposal to list the Antillean manatee as endangered and to maintain threatened species status with all blanket 4(d) rule protections for the Florida manatee.

Both Antillean and Florida manatees face numerous threats to their survival and recovery, many of which—like watercraft collisions and the loss of warm-water habitat and available forage—scientists predict will only worsen in the coming years as existing stressors put increasing pressure on already vulnerable manatee populations and drive them toward extinction.

To ensure that manatees can survive and recover, both subspecies must receive the full protections of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). I therefore support not only the uplisting of the Antillean manatee to endangered status but also maintaining longstanding ESA protections for the Florida manatee under Section 4(d). The many threats imperiling the Florida manatee’s continued survival counsel, at minimum, applying the Service’s blanket 4(d) rule without exception; any alterations to the blanket rule should be made only to facilitate the conservation of Florida manatees—and not to diminish the protections they receive.

The Service must also ensure that it relies upon up-to-date manatee population health data in reaching its final listing decision. Notably, the Service’s assessment of the Florida manatee’s future condition relies largely on data that predate the subspecies’ most recent Unusual Mortality Event, where more than 10% of the Florida manatee population was lost in a single winter due in large part to a seagrass die-off. Using updated information about the status of the Florida manatee population and its habitat will be vital to ensuring that the final rule reflects the best available science.

Thank you for taking this important step to update protections for manatees. Please move forward in listing Antillean manatees as endangered under the ESA and giving Florida manatees the strong protective regulations they need to recover.

Thank you,
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