FWC investigating 9 manatee deaths in 6 weeks in the Homosassa River

Several manatee deaths in Homosassa River

FOX 13's Jordan Bowen shares what a Manatee County Commissioner said could be behind the unusual number of deaths as an investigation continues.

HOMOSASSA, Fla. - An investigation is now underway to figure out what caused several manatees to die in the Homosassa River in Citrus County.

What we know:

Since February at least nine manatee deaths have been recorded.

"It first started with neighbors calling me and saying, have you noticed all the dead catfish? And I said, yeah, you know, we've noticed like three, five herons. I don't know what's going on," Citrus County Commissioner Diana Finegan said.

FWC investigating 9 manatee deaths in 6 weeks in the Homosassa River

FWC has been investigating the manatee and catfish deaths since last week.

According to FWC's website, fish kills occur frequently in Florida and in most cases they are the result of natural causes.

However the amount of manatee deaths is puzzling for residents and people like Finegan whose district encompasses the Homosassa River area.

"It's very concerning. Anytime you see death of any kind, even catfish floating in the water because you don't know what it's from. You know, fish kills happen. So maybe there was a changing climate or something reasonable that you could explain it," Finegan said.

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According to the FWC, at least 4 of the manatees have been necropsied.

FWC investigating 9 manatee deaths in 6 weeks in the Homosassa River

Most of the manatees found were 10 feet or longer.

What we don't know:

As for what's causing the deaths, Finegan says an initial investigation by FWC found a different digestive biome in the manatees, but it's still too early to tell exactly what's causing the deaths.

"We have very little information at this time. But I am thankful to our partners at FWC for bringing this up rather quickly and keeping their job and investigating," Finegan said.

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The Source: Information for this story was gathered by FOX 13's Jordan Bowen.

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