ORANGE CITY, Fla. – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday visited Blue Spring State Park to talk about the state’s continued environmental restoration efforts at popular springs, rivers and state parks.
The governor spoke not far from the spring, where hundreds of manatees are currently living for the winter months. Over the past couple months, the state park has broken a number of environmental records, the governor pointed out.
“Blue Springs broke not just one, but two records for the number of manatees seen at the spring. On New Year’s Day, there were 736 manatees gathered at the spring. On January 21, the coldest day so far of the year, there were 932 manatees gathered at the spring. So that’s the biggest record we’ve ever had,” the governor said. “These increased numbers didn’t just happen by accident.”
Back in 2021, the state was forced to take action after a historic number of manatees died. Florida Fish and Wildlife recorded 1,100 deaths, according to one report.
“The initial actions were a feeding program with both Florida Fish and Wildlife, as well as U.S. Fish and Wildlife, distributing over 600,000 pounds of leafy greens — and so that was something as the sea grass had eroded — this provided important nourishment for the manatees,” the governor explained. “And since we responded to the increase in mortality a few years ago, we’ve had over $40 million that have been invested for rescue and rehabilitation of the manatee population, we’ve never done that much in the state of Florida.”
The number of manatee deaths has decreased year-over-year after state officials dumped nearly $2 billion into water quality improvements all across the state. The additional funding has helped rescue programs, like SeaWorld Orlando, save distressed manatees and rehabilitate them so they can be released in the wild.
The governor said on Wednesday, SeaWorld Orlando will release seven rehabilitated manatees back into Blue Spring.
The governor said he wants to see this type of environmental success continue into the next legislative session.
“I have proposed for this coming year $330 million additional for targeted water quality improvements. That includes another $100 million for the Indian River Lagoon protection programs, second year, as well as $9.5 million dedicated to our manatee rescue and rehabilitation protection programs. Additionally, we’re calling for $50 million additional to continue to support our springs restoration throughout the state of Florida and $55 million to combat harmful algal blooms and to enhance water quality monitoring,” the governor stated.
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