HERNANDO COUNTY, Fla — Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission picked up another dead manatee on the Mud River Thursday. ABC Action News has been told by residents it's the sixth dead manatee within six weeks.
"It's sad. It's very sad to know that they come here as a safe zone, and it's no longer a safe zone," Lynne Herrick, resident, said.
One resident shared a TikTok video with ABC Action News that showed a manatee repeatedly coming up for air before it later died.
"She rallied and rallied, and then she just went off on the bank and started thrashing like crazy, and I just knew. So, she died. This is number six on this river people. Wake up!"
The deaths and the mystery surrounding them have contributed to growing concerns in the area. People living on and around the Mud River are questioning the water quality. Another video sent to us suggested an 'oily substance' flowing into the Weeki Wachee River.
Residents said they also fear heavy traffic from water-crafts could be the culprit.
"It's disturbing. It's alarming. There's something happening. I don't know if it's boat traffic, water quality, but we have a problem and we need to find out what that problem is," Stephanie Kozuch, resident, said.
This graphic is from Save the Manatee Club's Facebook page. You can see a manatee's lungs are on top of its body, which could leave it vulnerable to upper body trauma.
"We do see a lot of propeller scars on top of the manatees' bodies from the propeller, but it doesn't take a propeller. Any blunt trauma to the top of that manatee can make it die," Herrick added.
The Hernando County Riverine Protection Order says this:
"The intent and purpose of this article is to protect the health, safety, welfare and resources of Hernando County, including the quality of water, the water-dependent habitat, and the scenic vistas, by providing guidelines and standards for development and management within one (1) mile either side of the edge of the Weeki Wachee, Mud, Withlacoochee, and Little Withlacoochee rivers.
People living there told ABC Action News that's not being enforced.
"There is an intense overuse that just started occurring over the past year. That we have noticed. There's increased boat traffic, jet ski rentals, boat rentals, airboat tours, the traffic has just exploded back here. There's no manatee protection back here. None whatsoever," Kozuch explained.
Kozuch wants the county and everyone else responsible for enforcing ordinances in place to step up.
"We can't be known as the river where the manatee come to die because that's what it's looking like," Kozuch added.
So far, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission said it can't confirm if boat strikes, water quality, or another factor is to blame for the manatee deaths. FWC said it's working on a time frame
of when it will release more information on what is killing the manatees.
