Manatee deaths are poised to spike after years of recovery since an “unusual mortality event” in 2021, according to a preliminary report released earlier this month by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Researchers tallied 414 deaths this year as of June 13, compared with 340 and 329 deaths logged in the same period in 2024 and 2023, respectively.
The manatee mortality rate had been steadily returning to stable levels since 2021, when 1,100 died. Yet if this year’s trajectory continues, environmentalists say 2025 could turn out to be another year of notable losses for the “sea cows,” which are one of Florida’s most well-known and beloved aquatic mammals.
An unusually cold winter and a red tide algae bloom in southwestern Florida are responsible for the increase in deaths, FWC scientist Martine de Wit said in a statement. So far, 28 manatees have died in 2025 from cold stress, the most recorded in a year since 2020. Researchers also suspect that a portion of the 162 manatees not necropsied also died from the cold.
