Florida manatees are subtropical animals vulnerable to cold stress syndrome when water temperatures drop below 20 degrees Celsius, causing mass aggregations at warm water refugia that create management challenges.
Cold-stressed manatees experience genuine physiological distress — pneumonia, dehydration, immune collapse, and starvation when they cannot feed. Animals found floating listlessly in cold water are in welfare emergencies requiring immediate veterinary intervention. The dependence of Florida manatees on artificial warm water refugia from power plant outflows creates a conservation paradox: energy transition away from fossil fuels eliminates thermal pollution but removes critical refugia that manatees have become dependent on over decades. Planning warm water alternatives before plant closures is a direct welfare obligation created by this dependence.