Manatees are gentle, slow-moving herbivores vulnerable to boat strikes, cold stress, and red tide algae blooms. Their welfare depends on warm water refuge and speed restrictions.
West Indian manatee welfare is shaped by the accumulated costs of boat encounters, thermal stress, and food scarcity. Boat strike injuries cause acute pain, impaired mobility, and often slow death — survivors carry permanent disfigurement that may interfere with feeding and swimming efficiency. Cold stress immobilises manatees — animals chilled below 20°C enter cold stress syndrome, becoming lethargic and vulnerable to pneumonia. Red tide events cause neurological toxicity, breathing difficulty, and mass death events. Protecting manatee welfare requires enforceable boat speed restrictions in manatee habitat, seagrass restoration, and providing alternative warm water refuge as power plants retire. Individual rescue and rehabilitation of injured manatees by Save the Manatee Club and FWC is direct welfare intervention.