FWC pushing to protect Florida’s endangered manatees

Florida Fish and Wildlife is pushing to protect endangered manatees.

One danger that animals face is when boats bash into them, leaving deep scars across their backs.

“For the FWC, watercraft is one of the big categories we are very invested in and trying to correct,” said Andy Garett.

Garett is a Florida manatee rescue coordinator, and he’s said that now is his busy season.

“December through March is probably our heaviest window of rescues, just because of the cold and the other things going on,” said Garett.

Last year, FWC rescued 116 manatees in the state, with 17 in Southwest Florida.

Garett explained how the cold weather adds to the rescue tally.

“Much higher number of rescues in the winter time, especially cold winters like right now, because mixed in with that is still animals that have been hit by boats, animals that have entangled in fishing gear,” said Garett.

Those rescues only happen when you report them to FWC, and giving manatees medical treatment is not easy.

“It could take anywhere from days to weeks to months to years,” said Garett. “It’s a lot of time; it’s a lot of expense. It’s not it’s not a cheap thing. It’s you certainly not making money off of manatee rehab at your facilities.”

So, is all of this work and money worth it?

Meet Wanda Barrett. She came a long way to celebrate her birthday at Manatee Park.

“We actually did. Well, I do love manatees,” said Barrett. “We’re from Minnesota, so we’re loving Florida.”

Tons of people impact our economy to see these animals, which is why Manatee Park is busy in the winter.

Something else caught Wanda’s attention.

“Some of the manatees have fresh slice marks,” said Barrett. “And a lot of them have a lot of scars. That’s sad.”

Andy and his team keep working to save as many manatees as possible, but he said it comes down to your help.

“The public is part of this rescue process. I mean, 100%,” said Garett. “We do the rescue [and] people are so thankful, and we return [to] say, ‘No, you’re really the reason why this happened, because we wouldn’t have known about this animal had you not call it in.'”

Rescuing, rehabing and releasing manatees for everyone to enjoy.