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Red Tide, boats take a grim toll

A lack of regulatory enforcement is blamed in the second-worst year on record for manatees: 396 died.

By CRAIG PITTMAN
Published January 7, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG - Last year was the second-worst in recorded history for Florida's manatees, with 396 dying from a variety of causes, state wildlife officials announced Friday.

At least 81 died from Red Tide, while 80 were killed by boats - an increase in watercraft-related deaths after two years in which the number dropped.

In a rare show of agreement, a leading manatee advocate and a leading boating industry spokesman blamed the increase on a lack of enforcement and suggested it might be due to Hurricane Katrina.

The state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission dispatched more than 100 law enforcement officers to help battered Louisiana and Mississippi last August. That pulled them from their regular duties of ticketing speeding boaters, catching poachers and enforcing fishing rules, said John Sprague of the Marine Industries Association of Florida.

"There was definitely a loss of law enforcement on the water," Sprague said.

The spike in manatee deaths comes as state and federal officials are reconsidering whether manatees deserve to be classified as endangered, a status that gives them legal protection.

Over the objections of environmental groups, state wildlife commissioners last year adopted new definitions for what constitutes an endangered species. They are scheduled to consider in June whether manatees meet that new definition.

Meanwhile, federal wildlife officials last year launched their own review of the manatee's status and expect to finish it sometime this year. Manatees have been on the federal endangered list since the first one was drawn up more than 30 years ago.

Boat ownership in Florida hit an all-time high in 2004 with more than 980,000 registered watercraft, up 4,000 from the previous year. Figures from last year are not available,

The state added 30 new wildlife officers to its ranks last year, but Pat Rose of the Save the Manatee Club said that wasn't enough to keep up. He suggested that when new waterfront development is approved, the developer pay a fee to help hire more wildlife officers.

Boaters killed six manatees in Citrus County, five each in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties and one in Hernando County. Pasco County had no watercraft-related deaths. Statewide the county with the most manatees killed by boats was Lee with 11.

Aerial surveys have put the state's manatee population at around 3,000. Since the state began keeping tabs in 1974, the highest recorded number of manatee deaths was in 1996. Of the 415 manatees found dead that year, 149 were killed by Red Tide.

A Red Tide occurs when a microscopic algae that's always present in the Gulf of Mexico blooms in a higher than usual concentration. When blooming, the organisms produce a toxin that can cause paralysis and death in fish and other marine creatures.

In 2003, Red Tide killed 98 manatees, the second-most since 1996. Only four deaths were attributed to Red Tide the following year, but the number skyrocketed last year when a Red Tide bloom lingered for months along the state's Gulf Coast.

The 81 deaths attributed to Red Tide last year might increase, said state biologist Ken Arrison. There has been a six-month backlog on toxicology tests used to determine if Red Tide toxins are in a carcass. Once those tests are completed, some of the 105 deaths listed as "undetermined" could wind up being blamed on Red Tide, he explained.

Scientists suspect that the apparent increase in the intensity and duration of Red Tide blooms in recent years is connected to an increase in water pollution caused by development, but that link remains unproven.

So environmental advocates prefer to concentrate on cutting back on boat-related collisions.

"We can't control Red Tide yet, but we can control the boat hits and we've got to be doing that," said Crystal River resident Helen Spivey, co-chairwoman of the Save the Manatee Club.

Times staff writer Barbara Behrendt contributed to this report.

[Last modified January 7, 2006, 01:09:14]