Florida Manatees May Have Settled in the State Only Recently, Study Finds

New research suggests manatees were once rare visitors to Florida, becoming permanent residents only in the 20th century due to warming waters.

A study published in PLOS ONE suggests manatees were not year-round residents of Florida until the 20th century, previously migrating from the Caribbean.
Archaeological evidence, including a review of nearly two million animal bones, found very few manatee remains in Florida's precolonial records.
The study attributes the manatees' permanent settlement to the end of the Little Ice Age and subsequent warming of Florida's waters.
Historical sightings of manatees in Florida became more common in the late 1800s and early 1900s, coinciding with the proliferation of warm water refuges near power plants.
While manatee populations have rebounded to 8,350-11,730, threats such as pollution, seagrass loss, and the closure of power plants due to the energy transition pose ongoing challenges.