Elderly Florida Manatee Paddy Doyle Killed in Boat Collision

One of the oldest manatees that regularly visited Blue Spring State Park in central Florida died last month.

The nonprofit group Save the Manatee Club announced that a watercraft killed Paddy Doyle, one of the club's oldest adoptees, in the St. Johns River near Jacksonville at the end of April. The manatee was in great physical condition at the time of his death, despite propeller scars on his back and tail.

A news release estimated Paddy to be in his late 50s or early 60s, outliving the average lifespan of a wild manatee. A social, playful, and feisty fellow, people first spotted the manatee at Blue Spring in 1971, where an Irish researcher gave Paddy his "fighting Irishman" name. He received his official ID number and name eight years later, in 1979. He was already nine feet long and weighed 1,078 pounds at the time.
Paddy was a regular winter visitor at Blue Spring, where researchers looked forward to his arrival. The club says he made numerous appearances at "roll call," when researchers count the manatees present at the spring. He enjoyed spending time with other mantees, especially fellow adoptees Floyd, Doc, and Howie. He also enjoyed spending time in the center of the underwater camera.

"Late one season, Paddy went out and ate so much fresh greenery that he was bloated with gas and could not submerge," the club wrote in a remembrance post. The other manatees gathered around him, very agitated, as if in obvious distress, until Paddy finally bubbled and was able to submerge again."

Save the Manatee is confident that Paddy fathered multiple offspring, as he was typically part of mating herds in Lake Monroe, just south of Blue Spring. He appeared to have a particular fondness for Phyllis. As of May 23, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) says 383 manatees have died since January 1. Watercraft caused 47 deaths, cold stress caused 28, and human-related causes were responsible for six.

More than 150 have not been necropsied, and 24 were ruled undetermined, whereas 48 died of natural causes. Seventy-nine manatee deaths, four of which were watercraft-related, occurred in Brevard County in eastern Central Florida, while 77 took place in Lee County, where watercrafts have killed eight. Eight manatees have died in Broward and Miami-Dade Counties so far this year.

"Paddy Doyle is leaving behind a lasting legacy," Save the Manatee ended its remembrance post, "and will be sorely missed by so very many."