Blog by: Matthew Pakkala
Colloquially known as the “cows of the sea,” manatees are large aquatic mammals, typically ranging from nine to ten feet in length and weighing in at nearly one thousand pounds.[i] However, despite their imposing size and impressive swimming abilities, manatees are in trouble. More specifically, the Florida Manatee, a subspecies of the West Indian Manatee,[ii] is currently listed as protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and the Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act of 1978.[iii] It is important to note, however, that the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (“FWS”) downgraded the status of Florida Manatees to threatened, rather than endangered, in 2017.[iv] At the state level, Florida “established regulatory speed zones to protect the manatee and its habitat,”[v] which is quite fragile and prone to disruption by recreational activities and pollution.[vi]
One such habitat under threat is the Indian River Lagoon, located along the Atlantic coast about one hundred miles north of West Palm Beach, FL.[vii] The main concern facing the Indian River Lagoon is the effect of algae blooms on the vegetation that manatees feed on.[viii] Algae blooms are caused by an excess of nitrogen and phosphorous in waterways which act as a catalyst, accelerating the growth of algae beyond what the frail ecosystem can tolerate.[ix] When the algae–fueled by nitrogen and phosphorous–blooms, the algae shades the vegetation from the sunlight it needs in order to photosynthesize, killing off much of the seagrass biomass that the manatees rely on for food.[x] It is estimated that nearly ninety percent of the seagrass biomass in the Indian River Lagoon has been lost due to algae blooms which has led to the loss of twenty-five percent of the Florida Manatees living in the area.[xi] Such a large loss of life led the FWS, while working in conjunction with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, to declare an Unusual Mortality Event (“UME”) for the Florida Manatees attributed to a lack of seagrass to sustain them.[xii] This UME, initially declared in 2021, has persisted through the present day.
Sadly, the Indian River Lagoon is merely a case study of a much wider spread issue with similar concerns reported in other areas such as Mosquito Lagoon and Banana River Lagoon.[xiii] The root cause of algae blooms in regions like the Indian River Lagoon is excess runoff pollution leading to nutrient dense compounds, such as fertilizer, to leak into the waterways which exponentially expedites algae growth.[xiv] Manatees are currently categorized as “threatened status” under the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”).[xv] “Threatened” species are “likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range,” whereas “endangered” species are “likely to become extinct throughout all or a significant portion of its range.[xvi]
Since the reclassification of manatees to “threatened” status, the FWS received petitions to reestablish the manatees as endangered.[xvii] Notably, one such petition was co-written by the Center for Biological Diversity, Brooks McCormick Jr. Animal Law & Policy Program at Harvard Law School, Miami Waterkeeper, Save the Manatee Club, and Frank González García.[xviii] This petition was well received by the FWS’s Ecological Services Program within its Division of Conservation and Classification, which determined “based on [its] review of the petitions and readily available information regarding boat collisions, genetic diversity loss, and seagrass loss, we find that these petitions present credible and substantial information that the petitioned actions may be warranted.”[xix] In the event that the FWS determines beyond its initial findings that the manatees should be reclassified as “endangered” under the ESA the manatees and their habitat, namely Indian River Lagoon, will be better protected from both private action[xx] and federal agency actions.[xxi] Additionally, agencies would be required to consult with the FWS prior to enacting plans or programs that could potentially harm the manatees and their habitat.[xxii] Moreover, reclassification would open the door for the FWS to classify certain manatee habitats, such as the Indian River Lagoon, as “critical habitats.”[xxiii] While the current threatened status is certainly better than no classification at all, it falls short of adequately protecting the manatee population.
Given the recent, and still ongoing Florida Manatee UME and the rapidly deteriorating condition of the fragile ecosystems housing manatees, the need to restore the Florida Manatee’s endangered status is readily apparent. It is time for the FWS to man up and reclassify the manatees.
[i] Florida Manatee Facts and Information, Fl. Fish and Wildlife Conservation Comm’n, https://myfwc.com/education/wildlife/manatee/facts-and-information/ (last viewed Mar. 31, 2024), [https://perma.cc/QE67-GEX8].
[ii] The 3 Species of Manatees, Swimming With the Manatees: Waterfront Adventures (Nov. 27, 2019), https://swimmingwiththemanatees.com/the-3-species-of-manatees/ [https://perma.cc/WQC5-2B8Z].
[iii] Living With Florida Manatees, Fl. Fish and Wildlife Conservation Comm’n, https://myfwc.com/conservation/you-conserve/wildlife/manatee/#:~:text=Manatees%20and%20the%20law&text=It%20is%20illegal%20to%20feed,or%20travel%20regularly%20or%20seasonally (last viewed Mar. 31, 2024) [https://perma.cc/ERW8-DUX5].
[iv] Arian Campoo-Flores, Florida Manatees’ Health Improves, but Beloved Species Still Faces Threats, Climate & Environment, The Wall Street J. (Dec. 26, 2023, 9:00 AM), https://www.wsj.com/us-news/climate-environment/floridamanatees-health-improves-but-beloved-species-still-faces-threats-628dcb91 [https://perma.cc/38YA-M3X4].
[v] Id.
[vi] Id.
[vii] Protecting the Watershed of the Indian River Lagoon, Indian River Lagoon State Park, Fl.State Parks (2018), https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/indian-river-lagoon-preserve-state-park [https://perma.cc/92P2-WLLU].
[viii] Campoo-Flores, supra note iv.
[ix] Floraison d'algues et perte d'herbiers marins, Save The Manatee (May 25, 2023), https://savethemanatee.org/fr/manatees/algae-blooms/#:~:text=Unfortunately%2C%20as%20the%20direct%20result,of%20the%20estimated%20manatee%20population [https://perma.cc/S5DH-2J4L].
[x] Id.
[xi] Id.
[xii] Manatee Mortality Event Along The East Coast: 2020-ongoing, FL. Fish And Wildlife Conservation Comm’n, https://myfwc.com/research/manatee/rescue-mortality-response/ume/#:~:text=Researchers%20attributed%20this%20UME%20to,and%20work%20with%20our%20partners (last viewed Mar. 31, 2024) [https://perma.cc/U8UM-SHHF].
[xiii] Campoo-Flores, supra note iv.
[xiv]Understanding algal blooms, St. Johns River Water Mgmt. Dist. (2024), https://www.sjrwmd.com/education/algae/#:~:text=Algae%20can%20multiply%20quickly%20in,although%20other%20colors%20can%20occur [https://perma.cc/BMR2-XUPL].
[xv] U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Listing a Species as Threatened or Endangered: Section 4 of the Endangered Species Act (2016) https://www.fws.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ESA-Section-4-Listing.pdf [https://perma.cc/Q7SV-S5HL].
[xvi] Id.
[xvii] Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 90-Day Findings for Two Petitions To Reclassify the West Indian Manatee, 88 Fed. Reg. 196 (proposed Oct. 12, 2023) (to be codified at 50 CFR pt. 17).
[xviii] Id.
[xix] Id.
[xx] See generally Babbitt v. Sweet Home, 515 U.S. 687 (1995).
[xxi] See generally TVA v. Hill, 437 U.S. 437 (1978).
[xxii] Defs. of Wildlife v. United States Forest Serv., 94 F.4th 1210, 1216–17 (10th Cir. 2024) (“The USFS consulted the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (“FWS”), as required by the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (“ESA”), to consider the Plan's effects on Canada lynx in the contiguous United States…”).
[xxiii] Critical Habitat, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, https://www.fws.gov/project/critical-habitat#:~:text=For%20an%20unoccupied%20area%20to,the%20conservation%20of%20the%20species [https://perma.cc/MP6L-NMNL].