Gov. Ron DeSantis touts state's manatee rescue efforts at news conference in Orange City

Gov. Ron DeSantis stood before the old Florida backdrop at Blue Spring State Park in Orange City Tuesday and touted his record on environmental protection, including rescuing manatees.

DeSantis, back touring Florida communities instead of Iowa towns after a failed bid for the Republican nomination for president, charted the progress of manatees ? the uniquely lovable "sea cows" with plant-based diets that travel the state's rivers and springs in winter looking for warm water.

One of those havens is Blue Spring, an offshoot of the St. Johns River where the water temperature remains in the 70s year round.

In 1970, researchers identified 14 manatees at Blue Spring. By 2005, after efforts to revive the species, researchers counted around 200, DeSantis said.

"This year, Blue Spring broke not just one but two records for the number of manatees seen at the spring," DeSantis said. "On New Year's Day, there were 736 manatees gathered at the spring. On Jan. 21st, the coldest day so far ... there were 932 manatees gathered at the spring. So that's the biggest record we've ever had."

The Tampa Electric Manatee Viewing Center in Apollo Beach on Tampa Bay also reported a record number, around 1,100 together at one time in January, up from a previous high of 850 set a year ago.

The records of 2024 represent a turnaround after a stretch where hundreds of manatee deaths were recorded in a few months in 2020 and 2021. Some researchers blamed the deaths on a lack of food ? or sea grass ? that the manatees were experiencing.

DeSantis said a feeding program involving both the state's Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service helped. Those agencies distributed more than 600,000 pounds of leafy greens to help, he said.

The manatee mortality rate is back to the 2017 level, indicating a population rebound, which, as a result, means that feeding program is no longer necessary, DeSantis said.

That effort was part of a $40 million attempt to rescue and rehabilitate manatees, DeSantis said.

"We've never done that much in the state of Florida, not even close," DeSantis said.

Some of that $40 million has also helped SeaWorld, which takes injured, ill or orphaned manatees. SeaWorld is planning to release seven such manatees on Wednesday at Blue Spring, where two of them, Mary Kate and Tink Tink – yes, DeSantis said “Tink Tink” - had been orphaned and initially rescued.

Dr. Buddy Powell, chief zoological officer at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, said when he first came to Blue Spring State Park as a young biologist in the early 1970s, there were fewer than 30 manatees.

“It’s encouraging that this year we have not seen the manatee deaths or rescues from starvation on the east coast, or the need to supplement feeding,” he said. “It’s perhaps due to the increase in water quality and seagrass recovery.”

'Out of control': Why have more than 300 manatees died in Florida this winter?

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: At Blue Spring State Park, Gov. Ron DeSantis cheers manatee rescues