Florida manatees face severe welfare challenges from boat propeller strikes, cold stunning and red tide algal blooms that cause extensive individual suffering and population stress.
Manatees killed or injured by boat propellers suffer traumatic injuries that cause immediate severe pain and often prolonged suffering before death or discovery. Cold-stressed manatees that separate from warm water refugia during cold snaps develop life-threatening hypothermia and become too weak to reach warmth, dying slowly if not rescued. Red tide poisoning causes progressive neurological dysfunction, inability to breathe properly at the surface, and drowning. Each of these welfare crises is preventable - boater speed compliance, warm water refuge protection and algal bloom monitoring are all tools that exist. The welfare cost of inadequate implementation is paid in suffering by individual manatees.