State manatee count finds 5,000

A whopping 832 manatees were counted on a single day in Broward County during a statewide survey last month, the highest number on the east coast. The vast majority were bobbing in the water a few miles inland at the cooling lakes of the Florida Power & Light plant west of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. In Palm Beach County, the survey found 143 manatees, and in Miami-Dade County it found 171. Statewide the survey found 4,831, the third-highest number ever counted since surveys began in 1991. Holly Edwards, a biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, cautioned against reading too much into the numbers. She said the survey simply represents a snapshot of where manatees are.