User:Ameliajlopez/West Indian manatee

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Over 20% of manatee mortalities per year are a result of watercraft collisions. Between 1985 and 2017 53% of adult manatee mortalities were the result of boat strikes. 96% of adult Florida manatee carcasses have scars from a boat collision with some individuals showing signs of 10 or more boat strikes. Manatees can hear boats, but they oftentimes do not have enough time to get out of the way of a fast approaching boat. A boat going at a slower speed gives the manatee more time to react and move out of the way. Manatees respond to approaching vessels by orienting towards deeper waters and increasing their speed, but they are nevertheless frequently struck as they don't have the ability to swim very fast and in shallow habitat they oftentimes don't have anywhere to go to get out of the way. Over half of all watercraft deaths are caused by the impact trauma from the hull of a fast-speeding boat, whereas the remaining percentage is caused by the boat propeller. Aerial surveys of Florida manatee and boat distribution have been conducted to map the areas in which collisions are most likely to occur, accounting for environmental and seasonal factors. Watercraft can frequently avoid hitting manatees simply by reducing speed, allowing time for the manatee to escape out of range. Despite improvements in modeling and changes to local regulations, manatee mortalities from watercraft collisions continue to rise with an all-time high of 137 recorded deaths in 2019. In 2021, manatees had their deadliest year on record, and boat collisions caused the majority of the deaths. By June 2021, 63 manatees had died due to collisions with watercraft.

Recently, their population is declining for a new reason. Especially in Florida, their main food source, seagrass, is depleting. It is dying because of water pollution, which then in turn creates algal blooms. Algal blooms block sunlight from reaching the seagrass and that causes it to die. According to NBC, since 2009 about 58% of seagrass has been lost in the Indian River Lagoon. Since their food source is slowly disappearing, it is causing mass numbers of manatees to die of starvation.