per year and perinatal deaths averaged 27 per year. Manatee 

 mortality data collected since 1977 are presented in the 

 following table. 



Manatee Mortality in the United States. 1977-1988 * 



Boat/Barge 

 Collisions 



13 

 21 

 24 

 16 

 24 

 21 

 15 

 35 

 35 

 33 

 39 

 43 



Figures include the number of manatee carcasses 

 recovered by year and the number of animals known to 

 have died but which were not recovered. 



** 



Data for 1988 are preliminary totals provided by the 

 Florida Department of Natural Resources, Division of 

 Marine Resources. 



Over the past decade, human population growth and associ- 

 ated development in and near important manatee habitats have 

 increased dramatically. Recent population estimates for 

 Florida indicate a net growth rate of about 1,000 people per 

 day. Accompanying this human population growth has been a 

 dramatic increase in the number of registered boats in the 

 State. Whereas about 100,000 boats were registered in Florida 

 in the early 1960s, there are now more than 675,000, with an 

 additional 300,000 transient boats entering annually from 

 out-of-state. By the year 2000, the number of registered 

 boats in Florida is expected to double. Given increasing 

 boat traffic associated with increasing numbers of boats, the 

 number of boat-killed manatees only can be expected to rise 

 unless additional actions to reduce boat kills are taken. 

 Perhaps more serious in the long-term, however, are habitat 

 losses resulting from increased coastal development and 

 environmental pollution that will further degrade or destroy 

 critical manatee habitat. 



17 



