Manatee Quick Facts

SeaWorld's manatees

Seaworld is renown for its manatee rescue program where they help rescue manatees that need help, such as sick, orphaned, or injured ones. After recovery, they are released back to Florida waters unless the animal is chronically debilitated. Seaworld's rescue program usually deals with 20-25 manatees each year.

While in recovery, the rescued manatees are found in Seaworld's manatee attraction called "Manatees: The Last Generation?" It starts with a short movie talking about the manatees and their status as endangered. After that, you will see manatees in an underwater viewing area through a window.

The exhition also has interactive displays that educate the public about manatees. Afterwards you will be able to see the manatees from above ground in the pool.

The manatee rehabilitation area at SeaWorld has three fresh water pools and the largest manatee primary care center in the world where they can even do surgery on injured animals. General public cannot visit the clinic but if you take the special "Saving a Species Tour", you will get ot visit it, too.

Manatee facts

Manatees are large marine mammals that eat seagrass and other plants - thus the name 'sea cow'. They live in warm, shallow rivers, bays, estuaries and coastal waters that grow the salt and fresh water plants that they eat.

There are several species of manatees:

1. West Indian manatee found in the West Indies and Florida. There are two subspecies of this: Florida manatee and the Antillean manatee.
2. West African manatee, found in west coast of Africa, and
3. the Amazonian manatee, in the Amazon basin.

Manatees are also related to the dugong and to the Steller's sea cow, which was hunted to extinction by 1768. See also this map of different manatee species habitats and distribution.

Physical Description

The West Indian manatee is a large, gray-brown mammal with a seal-shaped body that tapers to a flat, paddle-shaped tail. It has 3 to 4 nails on each of its two flippers, and its head and face are wrinkled with whiskers on its snout. The flippers act like arms that allow them to maneuver in shallow water and to bring food to their lips, while a powerful, flat tail propels their bulky bodies across the water.

The adult manatee is about 10 feet long and weighs about 1000 pounds, on average. They can reach up to 13 feet in length and weigh up to 3,000 pounds. Their nostrils are located on top of their faces for easy breathing. They have tight-fitting flaps that keep the water out when they are submerged.

Manatees have bad breath and their gushes of strong exhalation at the water's surface reveal the manatees' presence. Manatee bones are very dense, lacking marrow. This makes manatees negatively buoyant so they can lie on the sea bottom without exerting any energy to stay down. By using less energy, they can remain under water longer between breaths making feeding more efficient.

Manatees are very gentle and their skin feels cool to the touch. Because of their low metabolic rate and lack of insulating fat layer, they need to be in waters at least 68 degrees Fahrenheit.

Behavior

Manatees like fairly shallow waters and they spend their time eating, resting, traveling, and playing in water. An adult manatee spends 6 to 8 hours eating, and the rest of the day resting or traveling. They rest submerged at the bottom or just below the surface, coming up to breathe about every three to five minutes, and twenty minutes and longer when asleep. Manatees are able to hold their breath for up to 15 minutes while resting.

Manatees communicate by making high-pitched sounds. They also put their scent on rocks for other manatees, like a message.

Colder weather drives Florida manatees inland during winter, and the official manatee season is approximately from October 15th to March 31st. Some stay in certain areas all year. One spot where manatees congregate during winter is the Crystal River area at Florida's Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge. In the summer months, they can be found in Louisiana, Virginia and the Carolinas.

Eating habits

Manatees are herbivores, meaning they eat vegetation, mainly manatee grass, turtle grass, hydrilla, water hyacinth, and water lettuce - and sometimes shell fish. Sometimes small snails and water animals will be eaten accidentally along with the grass. Find more about manatees' diet at this link.

Manatees typically eat at least 10% of their body weight each day in plant matter - which means they have to spend 6-8 hours a day total just eating and chewing! They graze for food along the bottom of the water and on the surface. Because manatees eat over 150 pounds of grass a day, they are always growing in new teeth in the back, so the old ones just fall out the front!

Breeding

Manatees don't produce a lot of young because female are not sexually mature until they are about four years old and the males are nine years old. Females give birth to one calf every 2 to 5 years. Manatees breed year round in Florida, but most of the calves are born in the spring and summer months with the gestation period being about 13 months.

At birth the calf measures about 4 to 4.5ft and weighs about 60-70 pounds. The newborn calf can swim at the surface of the water by itself. Several hours after birth the calf begins to nurse under water from its mother's teats that are located at the base of mother's front flippers. The infant begins to nibble on plants a few weeks after being born.

A calf may remain dependent on its mother for up to two years, being nursed for a long period and stays with the mother to learn survival, travel routes and warm water refuges.

Status

In the 1500s, Spanish explorers discovered the West Indian manatee. Since that, they were hunted for their meat, hide, and oils until Florida put a stop hunting in 1893 since they almost became extinct.

Manatees have been listed as endangered since 1967. Their population in Florida is believed to be 2000-3000. More than 250 manatees have been found dead in southwestern Florida since 1996. Manatees have no animal predators, but they are in danger from boats that can run over them in the water. They can also get the flu and be affected by red tide in addition to running out of food in the winter.

Save the Manatee Club tries to promote awareness about this endangered animal. Their website is pack full of information about manatees - you can even adopt a manatee!

Classification:

Sources:

Manatees: Scientific Classification
Everglades national park manatees
FLORIDA (WEST INDIAN) MANATEE
Florida Manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostrus)
manatee info from Save the Manatee Club
Manatee From Wikipedia