A kayaker made a disturbing discovery. A dead manatee in Estero Bay.
The owner of Island Breeze Kayak and Paddle Board rentals, Joey Nelson, takes kayakers out on the water every single day.
"If I'm not working on the water, I plop down on the beach," Nelson said.
However, two days ago, he saw something horrifying. He said he saw wildlife officials working on a dead manatee on Big Hickory Island. The sea cow still sits there today as it decomposes naturally.
Pippy and Hadley Linkinhoker saw the dead sea cow while on the water today.
"It was like really stinky," Pippy said. Hadley said, "You could tell it was rotting away, and you could see flies were all around it."
FWC said it died from a boat strike. The boater was likely speeding, which is something Nelson said he sees all too often.
"Unfortunately, we have signs out there all over the place that say no wake idle slow manatee zones," Nelson said. "They're speeding back and forth. They're causing wakes, and it's just a dangerous situation."
In 2024, 160 manatees were reported dead by this point in the year. This year, we've already seen 243 sea cows die.
Wildlife officials recommend wearing polarized sunglasses to spot manatees below the surface. They say you may see their snouts or large circles on the water, which indicates manatees are below you.
Nelson’s confident more manatees would be saved if boaters would just obey the speed zones.
"Please slow down, and let's protect our manatees," Nelson said.