South Carolinians aren’t the only ones who spend their summers in the Palmetto State’s many rivers and creeks. Manatees periodically venture north every year from their Florida homes as the waters warm, taking several through South Carolina.
About 50 manatees are estimated to meander their way through South Carolina every year, with sightings reported as early as February and as late as November, depending on temperatures.
“Manatees are seasonal visitors to South Carolina waters,” said Erin Weeks, who works with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR). “They come in the spring and leave in the fall, usually when water temperatures are warmer. Mostly, they’re just vacationing.”
All manatees are managed and protected by Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Service, even the ones that routinely visit the Palmetto State. Florida handles the tagging and monitoring, and historically, there wasn’t really a presence in South Carolina. But in the last several years, SCDNR and smaller groups like the Lowcountry Marine Mammal Foundation (LMMN) have stepped in to assist when possible.
But new restrictions and permitting have made it difficult to continue.
“A few years ago, we were able to offer more assistance,” said LMMN Executive Director Lauren Rust. “They asked if we wanted to apply for a permit to handle the manatees — we’re permitted for dolphins, whales and seals — and at the time, we didn’t have the capacity to do that. … Now, we take a lot of the calls and then shoot it off to the right person.”
Thanks to a federal grant given to the SCDNR, that right person will soon often be Kelly
Lambert, a wildlife biologist and the agency’s new manatee coordinator.
State to offer more support
The John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant — or the Prescott Grant for short — awarded $92,000 to SCDNR for two years at the end of 2024 to help build a stronger support network for South Carolina’s manatees, Lambert said.
“Over the next two years, we’re really going to be looking at expanding partnerships and looking for more people to be our eyes and ears on the water,” she said. “Of course, there will be opportunities for us to respond to animals, too.
“Florida’s Fish and Wildlife will continue to be the leaders in tagging and tracking,” she added, “but hopefully, we’ll be better equipped to support them. We can be a little more involved, more boots-on-the-ground and more proactive instead of just reactive.”
SCDNR’s Marine Turtle Conservation Program Coordinator Michelle Pate, who previously headed the agency’s manatee programs, said the grant offers a huge opportunity.
“What we are able to dedicate more time to now, thanks to this grant, is public outreach and education,” she said. “We are able to work more intensely on pushing out our online sightings form, getting that information out to folks recreating on the water.”
Pate said the agency can coordinate sightings with water temperature and vegetation data to build a better understanding of where the state’s manatees frequent, how long they’re staying and how that’s shifting over time.
Changing waters
Manatees in South Carolina face unique threats as temperatures cool down in November and December. When most manatees start migrating back to Florida’s warmer waters, others hang around longer in warm pockets and eventually become stranded, surrounded by water too cold for them to swim through.
“Manatees that do not migrate back to Florida when they’re supposed to can experience the manatee equivalent of hypothermia,” Weeks said. “It can cause significant damage, or even death. We had two animals documented in the last year where we think that was the cause of death.”
Some of these warm spots were frequently caused by industrial sites close to the river’s edge, like the former paper mill in North Charleston. But as more of these facilities shutter, environmental advocates hope temperature patterns will regulate, and fewer manatees will need rescue.
“They shouldn’t stay here that long,” Rust said. “If they do, we have to capture them and take them back to Florida. They just really can’t survive here.”
And rescue operations are huge. Two years ago, she said, a small group became stranded in North Charleston, resulting in a large team of volunteers and leaders from Florida and South Carolina agencies spending a week capturing them.
Dos and don’ts
Manatees are endangered animals, and that label already comes with several restrictions regarding human interaction. But due to South Carolina’s murky waters, many people may not even know they’re swimming with manatees.
“In Florida, you can’t walk or boat anywhere without signs in your face,” Rust said. “They are so aware of their manatees and love them. But here, a lot of people don’t really know the rules.”
The two most important rules to remember:
Give manatees their space. Don’t encourage them to your boat, don’t approach them and certainly don’t touch them.
Never feed them or give them fresh water. Manatees love drinking fresh water from bottles or hoses, and they often congregate around marinas where people are washing their boats. Just don’t give in to their begging faces, Weeks said.
Desensitizing manatees to human interaction puts them at greater risk of boat strikes and other potential harm that comes from human activity.
“It’s so difficult to convey how dangerous it is for animals to be fed or otherwise habituated to us,” Weeks said, “because they really are so cute.”
Manatees sightings are expected to begin by the beginning of April. If you spot any manatees in the water, especially those that look injured or sick, contact SCDNR at its 24-hour hotline at 1-800-922-5431, or at manatee@dnr.sc.gov.
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