Brevard leads Florida counties in manatee deaths in 2021

More than 400 manatees have died this year, with more than a third in Brevard County alone. In fact, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said more manatees have died in Brevard County than in any other Florida county.

More manatees were killed by Florida boaters in 2019 than ever before

The manatee exhibit is a popular one at ZooTampa at Lowry Park. As a patient observer, it's common to see young children exclaiming with joy and sprinting toward the observatory windows with their parents being pulled along in tow. When visitors peer through the glass, they're greeted by the whiskered faces and beady eyes of the "cows of the sea" -- a staple of Florida's waterways.