Florida manatees face severe welfare threats from boat propeller strikes, which cause injuries ranging from scarring to fatal trauma.
Manatees are slow-moving, gentle animals that cannot evade fast-moving boats. Propeller strikes cause lacerations, fractures, and organ damage that result in slow, painful deaths for many individuals. Surviving animals carry permanent scarring and sometimes chronic pain from incomplete healing. Speed zone enforcement is the most direct welfare intervention, but requires both regulatory will and boater compliance. The convergence of boat strikes and algal bloom mortality events makes manatee welfare increasingly precarious.