Manatees are gentle, slow-moving marine mammals facing severe welfare threats from boat propellers and habitat loss.
Propeller strikes cause horrific injuries: deep lacerations, severed flippers, and slow painful deaths. Cold stress syndrome causes hundreds of manatee deaths in cold snaps. Red tide harmful algal blooms, fueled by agricultural runoff, have caused mass die-offs. Each manatee that reaches a rehabilitation center represents dozens that did not survive.