Fifty-Eight manatee deaths have been recorded in Lee County since Jan. 1 this year, the majority of those coming since the period of frigid weather hit Southwest Florida according to a final report on the recent mass death of manatees in Lee County.
The report was made Wednesday by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The FWC report said the agency's staff is continuing to monitor and respond to the increase in local manatee deaths due to cold stress in Lee County and surrounding areas following a period of cold weather in Southwest Florida.
The report also said the Florida Power & Light Fort Myers plant was not an issue in the deaths. Reports had circulated that the plant might have played a role in the deaths.
"During the historic cold-weather event, FWC staff confirmed the (FPL) plant was compliant with the terms of its license and manatee protection plan criteria," the FWC report said. "To clarify, there is no FWC investigation currently taking place with FPL. FPL is a key partner with a long history of supporting the FWC’s manatee conservation efforts and has agreed to go beyond its license terms to mitigate the impacts of future cold-weather events at this and other industrial sites across the state."
The plant feeds warmer discharge water to the Manatee Park off State Road 80 near where some of the dead manatees were found. Because of the warmer water outflow from the plant into the park and the Orange River where the park water flows out to, manatees flock to the park and vicinity when the weather turns colder.
The FWC report said also that "manatees are highly dependent on safe and reliable warm-water sites to survive the winter. As water temperatures drop below 68 degrees Fahrenheit, Florida’s manatees seek refuge at springs, power plant discharge areas and other warm water sites where they’ll spend the winter until temperatures rise again in spring."
A manatee mortality chart accompanying the report showed the dates and locations of the manatee deaths this year.
The chart showed 49 of the 58 manatee deaths in Lee County came since Jan. 2 with 12 verified as cold stress, three by watercraft collision and the rest verified but not autopsied, meaning no exact cause of death confirmed.
The deaths were mostly recorded in the Orange and Caloosahatchee Rivers. Deaths also were recorded in the gulf as well as in Estero Bay, Fish Trap Bay, San Carlos Bay, Punta Rassa Cove, and Matlacha Pass, and in Glover Bight in Cape Coral.
In 2025 there were 49 manatee deaths in Lee County in the same time period of Jan. 1 to Feb. 25, for a range of causes but mostly not verified. There were 114 manatee deaths in Lee County in 2025.
The manatee carcasses recovered are documented in the FWC's preliminary manatee mortality report here — https://myfwc.com/research/manatee/rescue-mortality-response/statistics/mortality/ — after verification by FWC manatee biologists. Through these efforts, the FWC contributes to the evaluation of threats facing Florida manatees and provides information to resource managers. Members of the public can help by reporting injured, distressed or deceased manatees (https://myfwc.com/research/manatee/information/support/contact/) to the FWC Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922), so trained responders can assist.
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