HERNANDO CO, FLA. — Folks visit the Mud River to fish, canoe, boat, and see the lovely Manatees.
That was one of the selling points when Stephanie Kozuch moved there 18 years ago.
“Every time I see a Manatee, I’m still amazed after 18 years,” she said. “They’re amazing creatures.”
Sadly, most of the Manatees they’re seeing these days are dead, like one we spotted Wednesday morning. We were back up at Mary’s Fish Camp when the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission showed up to remove a dead Manatee found near there Tuesday.
The other Manatee we got a video of was found just up the river from there. It was stuck under a boat dock, dead and bleeding.
“I’m afraid for the Manatees,” said Kozuch.
We were out here back in January after a kayak attendant working at Mary’s Fish Camp sent us a video of one thrashing in the water before dying.
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A few days after that, another manatee was found floating in the water. One of the manatees was pregnant.
They are counting the baby, which was full term, as one of the dead manatees. That means, so far, in the first 38 days of the new year, there have been at least 5 dead manatees found in or near the Mud River.
“We are very concerned,” Kozuch said. “I’ve never seen this happen.”
According to stats from FWC’s website there were zero dead Manatees in Hernando County in 2020, in 2021 and 2022 they found two, and in 2023 one dead manatee was reported.
The big question for everyone: What’s causing this? Some of the people who live there, like Kozuch, suspect increased boat traffic.
“Boats are always one of the number one issues,” said Christi Glassen.
Glassen is the assistant manager at Mary’s Fish Camp. While boats are an issue, she said there can be a combination of things causing the manatees to die, including weather.
“They like hot weather,” she said. “But the cold weather, and we’ve had some cold days, hurt their vegetation. That’s probably number two, if not the number one reason why they’re hurting right now.”
The FWC is still investigating. As of right now, they do not believe this has anything to do with water. They said the water is safe.
The people who live out there said it’s time for officials to do more to protect the Manatees before it’s too late.
“If they don’t, it’s going to be disastrous,” Kozuch said. “This is going to be known where Manatees come to die.”
