Newly written draft language for proposed boater safety legislation may help protect threatened manatees from being killed by boat strikes.
Last year, 593 manatees were found dead in Florida. Of those, an estimated 90 died after boat strikes, according to preliminary data from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. That means 15 percent died from boat-related injuries. But that percentage could be higher.
Due to “pandemic-related limitations,” nearly 200 of the total reported deaths were not investigated, so no cause of death was given, according to the agency's preliminary 2020 manatee mortality data.
Overall, total deaths were slightly higher this year compared to 2019's 564 reported deaths.