Manatee deaths are on the rise in Volusia County, and across Florida.
- 538 manatees died in Florida in 2017
- Up from 520 in 2016
- 39 manatees were killed in Volusia County last year
Florida Fish and Wildlife officials attribute that increase over the past year to boating accidents.
But Florida Fish and Wildlife's mortality report for 2017 shows 538 manatees died in the waterways across the state of Florida, up from 520 last year.
In Volusia County, there were 39 deaths.
In 2016, there were 33. In 2015, there were 23.
Volusia County had 13 manatee deaths related to boating incidents. Volusia County only had 12 boating-related deaths in 2016, 8 in 2015.
"We usually get reports of a manatee that's floating very high in the water. It's usually a sign that one way or another they had some type of watercraft collision," said Debbie Wingfield, Manatee Protection Program Manager.
Debbie Wingfield said manatees die from a number of different reasons. They can include water pollution, or infant mortality.
Wingfield said there are more manatees in Florida than before, so that also contributes the higher number of deaths.
Wingfield said boaters need to make sure they don't speed, look for water patterns from the manatees, and wear polarized sunglasses to help see them.
"We want to see those numbers go down," Wingfield said. "We want to see people getting more involved with protecting their elements and protecting the animals."
The Volusia County Manatee protection team will be at the Blue Spring Manatee Festival to raise awareness.
The festival is on Jan. 27 and 28 at Valentine Park in Orange City.