Florida wildlife impacted by landfalling hurricanes from displaced flamingos to stranded manatees

02:46

Landfalling hurricanes displace Florida wildlife

Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF) Coastal Wildlife Director Kelly Sloan joined FOX Weather on Monday morning to explain the impacts hurricanes have on sea turtles and seabird habitats in Florida.

Landfalling hurricanes can have broad impacts to all forms of wildlife, with sea turtles and seabirds particularly vulnerable in Florida.

Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation Coastal Wildlife Director Kelly Sloan told FOX Weather that powerful hurricanes that make landfall in the Sunshine State can be devastating, but impacts from the most recent storms weren’t as harmful as they were anticipating.

"The (storm) surge from (Hurricane) Ian obviously had a huge impact on both our islands, Sanibel and Captiva," she said. "We actually had a data logger in one of our sea turtle nests during the hurricane that recorded 12 feet of surge on top of the eggs."

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01:59

Rescued sea turtles found during Hurricane Ian clean up released

The Turtle Hospital released juvenile turtles that they nursed back to heath. Rescuers named on sea turtle "Ian," after a family found him dehydrated and malnourished on a Key West beach after then Tropical Storm Ian blew through. (November 2022)

She said she was expecting significant changes to the habitat, but there wasn’t much erosion from the storm.

"We did see some really deep gullies form that provided a good habitat for our shorebirds," she continued. "They were able to come and forage and get lots of high-quality food."

In addition, Sloan said there was dune vegetation death that impacts sea turtles and other beach-nesting wildlife, but "overall, it wasn’t as bad as we expected."

There have also been spectacular images of flamingos ending up in areas from Florida to Wisconsin after Hurricane Idalia.

DRAMATIC PHOTOS, VIDEO CAPTURE HURRICANE IDALIA'S HISTORIC LANDFALL IN FLORIDA

But that’s cause for concern because they were displaced to a place that’s not warm and tropical.

"There can be broad impacts that we aren’t immediately thinking of when birds get pushed out of their natural habitat," Sloan said. "But we’ll just have to see how they adapt to their new location here in Florida."

Large animals, too, can be impacted by hurricanes.

05:07

Hurricane Idalia trapped manatees inland, group launches rescues

Hurricane Idalia slammed into Florida with record storm surge and heavy rain. The Save the Manatees group is rescuing animals washed inland and stranded. Jimmy Buffet also has a connection to the effort.

Such was the case after Hurricane Idalia forced water inland, bringing manatees with it.

"It was a terrible storm in the sense that it moved a lot of water onshore, tremendous flooding," aquatic biologist and executive director of the Save the Manatee Club, Patrick Rose told FOX Weather. "Manatees are pretty well adapted to deal with that. But at the same time, they move inland and get trapped as the water recedes."

HURRICANE IDALIA STRANDED MANATEES INLAND, THREATENING HEALTH OF SEA COWS

He said even the marginal sea level rise in southwestern Florida about 300 miles south of where Hurricane Idalia made landfall sent manatees inland.

But many larger animals can get out of the way before a storm strikes.

"Coastal wildlife in general is well adapted to hurricanes because they live in places where hurricanes happen regularly," Sloan said. "Manatees, sea turtles, dolphins, all of them have adapted ways to survive during hurricanes."

She said although there would be some mortality, they could get out of the way if a storm approaches.

"They can dive deeper sometimes," she continued. "They can sense that a storm is coming and relocate. Things like that can help them survive."