Local News
Narrow channel, speeding boats: Matlacha Isles residents fear for manatees
Carolyn Dolcimascolo
•9/25/2026
Source: WINK News
MATLACHA ISLES, Fla. (WINK) — Hurricane Ian changed Southwest Florida's coastline, and one local resident says those changes have put a target on wildlife.
Patti Sullivan is known in Matlacha Isles for her love of manatees. She has watched them use her backyard as their highway for years.
"They're like my babies," Sullivan said. "You know, we've seen them give birth out there, and you know they're just beautiful beasts."
But Sullivan fears boaters breaking the rules are putting the gentle giants at risk. She brought that concern to our WINK Listens in Cape Coral.
Patti Sullivan is known in Matlacha Isles for her love of manatees. She has watched them use her backyard as their highway for years.
"They're like my babies," Sullivan said. "You know, we've seen them give birth out there, and you know they're just beautiful beasts."
But Sullivan fears boaters breaking the rules are putting the gentle giants at risk. She brought that concern to our WINK Listens in Cape Coral.
She noted that after Ian the boating channel narrowed. A barge attached to a nearby seawall gave way during Hurricane Ian's storm surge, washing away the wall and the sand it held in place. That's the same channel manatees share with boaters.
"We've had a couple die here," Sullivan said.
"We've had a couple die here," Sullivan said.
SEE THE NUMBER OF MANATEE DEATHS, PER FWC.
The debris created what locals now call "Ian's Island." While people fish and play there, the passageway for manatees has shrunk significantly.
"This channel is very narrow," said Preston Peacock, Sullivan's neighbor. "You get people passing each other as they're going up the creek here, and it's crazy."
The area is a no-wake zone, meaning boaters should travel at about 5 mph without making waves. Both Sullivan and Peacock say many boaters ignore the rules.
"They're still going 30 miles an hour through here," Peacock said. "They turn that corner, which wakes. They go through here and they blow by all these houses."
Sullivan recalled a disturbing encounter with a speeding boater. "I had asked a boater to slow down because there was a group of manatees, and he flipped me off and then hit one," Sullivan said.
Both residents would like to see better boater education, more patrols and improved signage warning about manatees. Plans to dredge the area exist, but like many Hurricane Ian recovery projects, the work is on hold until money and permits come through.
"There's got to be some kind of compromise here," Sullivan said.
"It'd just be nice to see people respect the rules of the water," Peacock said.
The debris created what locals now call "Ian's Island." While people fish and play there, the passageway for manatees has shrunk significantly.
"This channel is very narrow," said Preston Peacock, Sullivan's neighbor. "You get people passing each other as they're going up the creek here, and it's crazy."
The area is a no-wake zone, meaning boaters should travel at about 5 mph without making waves. Both Sullivan and Peacock say many boaters ignore the rules.
"They're still going 30 miles an hour through here," Peacock said. "They turn that corner, which wakes. They go through here and they blow by all these houses."
Sullivan recalled a disturbing encounter with a speeding boater. "I had asked a boater to slow down because there was a group of manatees, and he flipped me off and then hit one," Sullivan said.
Both residents would like to see better boater education, more patrols and improved signage warning about manatees. Plans to dredge the area exist, but like many Hurricane Ian recovery projects, the work is on hold until money and permits come through.
"There's got to be some kind of compromise here," Sullivan said.
"It'd just be nice to see people respect the rules of the water," Peacock said.
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