Manatees at Risk: Documenting Florida’s Unusual Mortality Event

Warning: This post contains graphic content that may be upsetting to some viewers.

December 2020 – February 2021

In early 2021, Brevard County residents began finding manatees washing ashore. Communities joined together to document the growing number of deaths, and Fight For Zero, a Florida-based environmental health organization, pushed for an Unusual Mortality Event (UME) declaration for the Atlantic Florida Manatee. By March 2021, that declaration was made.

Through grassroots advocacy, partnerships with local groups, and on-the-ground documentation with certified wildlife monitors, Fight For Zero brought national attention to both the manatee crisis and the broader water quality issues threatening the Indian River Lagoon. Their team chronicled the unfolding tragedy through livestreams, photography, and video shared widely on social media.

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Florida Fish & Wildlife loading manatees onto their trailer to haul to the Cocoa landfill in Brevard County, Florida.

The manatee zone at the Cape Canaveral power plants.

Florida Fish and Wildlife untied a deceased manatee from the dock to haul it to the Cocoa landfill.

The manatee deaths are the symptom of decades of water pollution and inaction, and we are out of time. Our Florida agencies and legislators must discuss long-term solutions for starving manatees, as our water cannot sustain life.

Multiple manatees piled onto a trailer to be taken to the landfill on a beautiful Florida day. It was 80 degrees out. Taken on 2/12/22

Florida Fish & Wildlife search for deceased manatees in the Indian River Lagoon.

The Fight For Zero team reported a harmful algal bloom to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) in December 2021.

The manatee deaths are the symptom of decades of water pollution and inaction, and we are out of time. Our Florida agencies and legislators must discuss long-term solutions for starving manatees, as our water cannot sustain life.

Monitoring manatee activity and calling in animals that are distressed or deceased.

The deceased manatee was put into a trailer from the Indian River Lagoon.

Harmful algal blooms have killed all the manatees' food sources in the Indian River Lagoon.

Foam covers the Indian River Lagoon as the power plants run. 

The Florida Fish and Wildlife manatee feeding station at the power plant in Port. St. John, Florida. Feeding lettuce to appease the outraged communities who continued to report deceased manatees on their shorelines.

Florida Fish & Wildlife uses the Orlando Utilities Commission property and security to ensure privacy from the public.

In early 2021, Florida Fish & Wildlife was overwhelmed by the number of manatees perishing in the Indian River Lagoon. This worker pulls a manatee into a trailer at the Titusville marina.

The Fight For Zero leadership team kayaks along the manatee zone in December of 2021 to monitor water quality and look for manatees in distress. They reported a harmful algal bloom to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

Media coverage of the unusual mortality event.

Fight For Zero Executive Director and cancer survivor Stel Bailey kayaks the Indian River Lagoon to document the unusual mortality event.

"We are lucky if it's only one a day." - Florida Fish & Wildlife worker.

Two baby manatees were tied to a dock waiting to be loaded into a trailer and transported to the Cocoa landfill. In the background is the Kennedy Space Center VAB building.

Florida Fish and Wildlife untied a deceased manatee from the dock to haul it to the Cocoa landfill.

Advocates collaborated to collect water from the Indian River Lagoon to send to Florida legislators in Tallahassee after 7.2 million gallons of sewage spilled.

Foam covers the Indian River Lagoon as the power plants run. 

Power plants are significant contributors to thermal pollution, which changes oxygen levels in the water and destroys ecosystems. The warm water that comes off these plants can cause suffocation of plants and feed harmful algae. The Cape Canaveral power plant has 4.7 million dollars worth of heating equipment, and its plant is a refuge for manatees during the winter. 

Manatees also have cancer-causing chemicals known as PFAS in their blood, tested at the highest levels of toxic fluorinated chemicals ever measured in the species. Florida has some of the nation's highest detections of these chemicals.