244 sea cows die of cold

Not only are the tourists holidaying in their Florida villas affected by the cold

Cold killed a record 244manatees this year in Florida, quadruple the previous year, accounting for one in every three sea cow deaths statewide and almost half the deaths in Brevard.

The die off spells uncertain lasting effects on the federally listed endangered species.

"It's too early to comment on the long-term implications," said Gil McRae, director of the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg.

The deaths signify more than just a growing manatee population, he said. "There was an environmental effect in this case."

The record deaths come the same year state researchers announced they counted a record 5,067 manatees statewide the week of Jan. 11, smashing the previous record of 3,802, set in 2009.

Florida's previous record -- 56 cold stress deaths -- also happened last year.

In Brevard, cold killed a record 76 manatees this year, or 46 percent ofthe 165 total manatee deaths countywide. Brevard had 13 cold stress deaths last year.

The county's previous record was 28 cold stress deaths in 1990, according to a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission database.

State biologists blame this year's record deaths on an unusually cold winter.

But boating advocates say the government's also to blame for allowing and encouraging utilities that discharge warm water through their power plants into coastal waters.

That, they say, trained manatees to stay farther north in the winter. The manatees get caught out in the cold when they venture too far from power plants, which can compromise their immune systems.

Florida Power & Light Co. this year began heating water specifically for manatees this year, when it demolished its Port St. John plant. A $4.7 million heating system will keep the manatees warm there until a new $1.1 billion natural gas plant is operational.

"It's not natural," said Tom McGill, a boater from Merritt Island who fought for years to stop slow-speed manatee zones in Brevard County.

A task force of federal and state biologists has for years tried to come up with a plan for preventing cold-stress deaths.

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Rescued sea cows released into bay

Three manatees, two of which nearly froze to death in the chilly coastal waters of west central Florida last winter and the third from the previous winter, have warmed up and were released into Tampa Bay on Tuesday.

The trio of cold-stressed sea cows were plucked from the rehabilitation tank at the Lowry Park Zoo and taken to Apollo Beach, where they were released.

The manatees, named TECO 2, Turner and Bartlett, had been rehabbing at the David A. Straz Jr. Manatee Hospital at the zoo, recovering from cold-water stress during last winter's record cold spell.

Save the Manatee Club officials estimated that more than 300 manatees -- about 12 percent of the sea mammals' Florida population -- perished in the cold last winter. Before then, the record number of manatee deaths attributed to the cold in any given year was 56.

Several dozen were rescued from the frigid waters and have undergone rehab at various facilities around the state.

TECO 2 is a young adult male rescued near the TECO power plant in March 2009.

He weighed just 270 pounds at the time and, at not-quite 1, he was too young to be separated from his mother, who was nowhere to be found.

Turner is a young adult female rescued from Turner Creek in January after biologists determined she was cold stressed. She weighed about 400 pounds at the time.

Bartlett was rescued near Bartlett Park in St. Petersburg and has traveled extensively since she was pulled out of the water in January.

After her initial rescue, she was taken to the Columbus Zoo in Ohio.

After gaining strength and weight, to about 600 pounds, Bartlett was shipped to Lowry Park Zoo.

Step out from your florida villas and have a look at these amazing creatures