Hi John,

The die-off of Florida manatees has escalated this year. A total of 558 deaths have been reported — nearly 100 more than by this time last year.

Boat strikes have risen and may set a tragic new record. Cold stress has also been a factor.

The Center is doing all we can to secure the strongest protections possible for manatees. Please help today with a gift to the Future for the Wild Fund.

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State officials say the "unusual mortality event" manatees suffered in 2020 and 2021 — when nearly 2,000 of them died — has ended.

There had been signs that manatees were doing better, so this year's increase is heartbreaking. The rise in fatalities from boat strikes is especially worrisome, since so many of those deaths are preventable.

We're in court to get the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to finally grant the animals full protection under the Endangered Species Act. The Center has been fighting for years to save these gentle sea mammals.

This is an urgent, life-or-death matter. But thanks to the Trump administration, manatees' plight could get worse. If what it means to "harm" an endangered or threatened species is narrowed, it will become much easier for polluters and others to destroy their habitat.

The mass-die off was driven by pollution, which choked off the seagrass manatees depend on. That seagrass is starting to regrow, but it could easily vanish again — especially if polluters get a free pass to poison waters.

So much is at stake. This is a perilous moment for wildlife. But manatees and other creatures on the front lines don't have time wait. We have to act now to save species on the edge and the laws that will keep them safe.

Please help by giving to the Future for the Wild Fund.

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For the wild,

Kierán Suckling
Executive Director
Center for Biological Diversity

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