TAMPA, Fla. - You couldn't tell it by looking at manatees like Barron and Sparky these days, but last year was the second worst on record for manatee deaths in Florida.

And were it not for rescuers who are saving dozens of manatees a year, 2005 might have been both the first year and the last for Barron and Sparky, infants separated from their mothers. Barron was found last month starving and so cold that Virginia Edmonds and other staffers at the manatee hospital at Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa worried he would not survive.

Sparky, recovering at the Miami Seaquarium, was found last March near the power plant at Port Everglades. Found in the shallows, "he was too weak to go look for food," said Dr. Maya Rodriguez, the Seaquarium's veterinarian.

People who rescue sick, entangled or injured manatees and the experts who treat the propeller gouges, the broken ribs, the problems caused by red tide and the myriad other maladies that befall the slow-moving creatures have become the difference between life and death for some members of Florida's manatee population.

No one knows the exact manatee population, but during the winter 2005 aerial survey, spotters saw 3,142 manatees. The animals are listed as an endangered species, though a five-member scientific panel recommended to the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission late last week that manatees in Florida be downgraded from endangered to "threatened species."

Elsa Haubold, lead scientist on a panel that recommended the changes, said the manatee population is still expected to drop 50 percent over the next 50 years because of habitat loss, boat collisions and red tide algae. However, according to an Associated Press report, she said it couldn't meet the criteria for being "endangered."

"The endangered category is for species that are on the edge of extinction ... almost to the point of no return," she said.

Patti Thompson, director of science and conservation for the Save the Manatee Club, said the recommendation was "premature and wrong-headed and politically driven."

The proposal must be heard by the full commission later this year. Manatees are also considered an endangered species by federal regulations.

When rescuers found Barron in the Barron River near Everglades City on Dec. 22, his body temperature was 70 degrees, said Edmonds, a curator at Lowry Park Zoo.

"We weren't sure he would make it through the night. But he surprised us," Edmonds said. "He is a fighter and things are good."

Separated from his mother, Barron weighed just 93.5 pounds, low for his species. Someone spotted him and contacted the state's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which dispatched one of its rescue teams.

At the Miami Seaquarium, Sparky and Jefferson are two of Rodriguez's manatee patients.

Sparky "was so skinny when we found him," Rodriguez said. "He had obviously been away from Mom for weeks. His little belly was all rolled in."

Caretakers at the Seaquarium gave him antibiotics and "formula cubes" high in protein and fat.

When he is big enough, they will start teaching him to eat sea grass.

Animals like Sparky and Barron are usually weighed every day and fed four times a day, sometimes more depending on the circumstances. Sometimes they get washed with antibacterial soap.

Rodriguez is also treating Jefferson, an adult male found starving near the Dry Tortugas, where manatees almost never go.

He has put on 300 to 400 pounds and will be released this year.

Last year, 396 manatees died in Florida's waters, including five in Miami-Dade, nine in Broward and eight in Monroe counties. It was the second worst death count after the 415 that died in 1996.

According to state statistics, 80 manatees died in 2005 from boat strikes, 11 more than in 2004.

In 2005, 62 manatees like Barron, Sparky and Jefferson got a reprieve. More than 50 manatees a year have been rescued in the past five years, said Ken Arrison, a wildlife biologist at the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg.

Thirty were treated and eventually released, 15 died and 17 are still being treated.

Most rescues are of manatees that get entangled in crab traps, fishing lines or other obstacles. Many can be released quickly, though some, especially the young ones, stay for many months - until they are 2 years old and weigh at least 700 pounds.

As of last week, 17 manatees rescued in 2005 were still being treated at three critical care facilities: Lowry Park Zoo, Miami Seaquarium and Sea World-Orlando.

A few manatees are so badly injured they can never be released back into the wild.

Edmonds sees the work as a "unique opportunity for us to actually do some conservation in our own backyard. ... It is extremely rewarding because we give manatees a second chance at life."

People who spot injured or distressed manatees should call the state's hot line, 1-888-404-3922.