'That's a good sign.' Manatee poop shows lettuce program for starving seacows may be working

They say hope comes in many forms. In the case of the ongoing effort to feed wild manatees, hope may come in the form of poop. 

Since the unprecedented feeding experiment began in December, biologists have put out roughly 63,000 pounds of lettuce to feed sea cows, said Jon Wallace, a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service joint unified command member, in a media call Wednesday.

In an early indication manatees are digesting the leafy provisions, response teams have noticed an uptick of manatee poo floating on the surface of the feeding site at Florida Power & Light's Cape Canaveral Clean Energy Center in Brevard County. 

"We're seeing more fecal material in the warm-water site, which means that animals are eating — and they're eating enough for them to process the vegetation," said Ron Mezich of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

"That's a good sign."

What does manatee poop look like?

Manatees typically take seven days to fully digest their food. In the first week of the feeding trial, biologists saw "little to no" poop in the water, but it's been a regular observation since, Mezich said. 

Never seen manatee excrement? Their average fecal material comes out in a compressed, cylindrical-shaped pellet called a "bolus." It's roughly the size of what a medium dog might produce, according to Mezich.

Like with any animal, diet and health may affect manatee fecal composition, Mezich said. Researchers collected fecal samples before winter, and have collected more samples since the feeding trial began for further analysis. 

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"Seeing fecal matter from the manatees at the supplemental feeding trial shows that some of the animals there are eating enough food for them to process the vegetation and produce fecal material that was not evident early in the feeding trial," Mezich said.

Due to the size of the area and number of manatees nearby, it's difficult to quantify the amount of poop produced, Mezich said. Last week, manatees numbered anywhere from 60 to 500. 

Romaine and butterleaf lettuce is purchased about three times a week from Belle Glade and Okeechobee-area farmers at about 60 cents a pound, Wallace said. Donations to the Fish and Wildlife Foundation of Florida are footing the bill. 

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As of Thursday, roughly 96,605 pounds of lettuce were purchased from $97,400 in donations, according to foundation spokesperson Michelle Ashton. The nonprofit hopes to raise $150,000 to pay for the feeding through March. 

Despite rescues, manatee death rate is still high

There's currently 82 manatees in rehabilitation facilities across 13 different facilities in Florida, Texas, Ohio and Puerto Rico, according to Teresa Calleson of Fish & Wildlife. 

At least 31 manatees were rescued through Feb. 18, with roughly a third of those from Brevard County, according to the latest FWC data. Many are showing signs of emaciation along Florida's east coast. 

Manatees that suffer from starvation take longer to heal, averaging anywhere from three to eight months, Calleson said. SeaWorld in Orlando has added emergency space to take on more animals. 

"Critical care space is always a challenge," said Jon Peterson, co-chair of the Manatee Rescue and Rehabilitation Partnership at SeaWorld. "This need doesn't stop at the end of the cold season this year. This is something that's going to carry on for awhile. A couple of years, maybe even longer." 

Despite rescues and rehab, the manatee death rate is still high. At least 326 animals died through Feb. 18, according to FWC data updated Wednesday. That's nearly twice the five-year average from 2017 to 2022.

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Over two-thirds of those deaths, or 221, were in Brevard County. In just one week, there were 83 deaths statewide, with 53 logged at the die-off's epicenter in Brevard. 

The deaths are pacing just behind last year, when a record 1,100 manatees died after starvation left many animals weak and emaciated.

Seagrass, their main food source, has withered away. Decades of human-caused pollution in the Indian River Lagoon has sparked repeated algal blooms, which block out sunlight and choke seagrass. 

Max Chesnes is a TCPalm environment reporter focusing on issues facing the Indian River Lagoon, St. Lucie River and Lake Okeechobee. You can keep up with Max on Twitter @MaxChesnes, email him at max.chesnes@tcpalm.com and give him a call at 772-978-2224.

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