Manatee Fun Facts

At least two manatees died an agonizing death from red tide in Brevard County and another five also are suspected victims of the toxic algae.


Manatees are large, fully aquatic marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows.
The name comes from the Spanish manatí, which itself comes from a Carib word meaning "breast."

They are thought to have evolved from four legged land mammals over 60 million years ago.
They are mainly herbivores, spending most of their time grazing in shallow waters and at depths of 1-2 m (3-7 ft).

Generally, manatees have a mean mass of 410-545 kg (900-1200 lb), and mean length of 2.7-3 m (9-10 ft), with maximums of 3.6 m and 1775 kg seen (the females tend to be larger and heavier).

On average, most manatees swim about 3 to 5 miles per hour. However, they have been known to swim up to 20 miles per hour in short bursts.

Manatees inhabit the shallow, marshy coastal areas and rivers of the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico (T. manatus, West Indian Manatee), the Amazon basin (T. inunguis, Amazonian Manatee), and West Africa (T. senegalensis,

Florida manatees (T. m. latirostris) have been known to live up to 60 years.

They have a large flexible prehensile upper lip that acts in many ways like a shortened trunk, somewhat similar to an elephant's. They use the lip to gather food and eat, as well as using it for social interactions and communications.

Manatees are also believed to have the ability to see in color. They may use taste and smell, in addition to sight, sound, and touch, to communicate.

Manatees are capable of understanding discrimination tasks, and show signs of complex associated learning and advanced long term memory.[3] They demonstrate complex discrimination and task-learning similar to dolphins

A manatee can move each side of its lip pads independently. This flexibility allows the manatee to "grab" aquatic plants and draw them into its mouth.

Manatees do not have eyelashes, their eye muscles close in a circular motion, much like an aperture on a camera.

Manatees have no "biting" teeth, only "grinding" teeth. A manatee's teeth (all molars) are constantly being replaced. New teeth come in at the back of the jaw and move forward about a centimeter a month. The front molars eventually fall out and are replaced by the teeth behind them. This tooth replacement is an adaptation to the manatee's diet, as it consumes plants that may hold a lot of sand.

Other remnant bones found in the manatee are the hyoid bones located near the neck region. These bones are similar to the Adam's apple in humans. Today, there is no known use of these bones in the manatee.

The bones in a manatee's flipper are similar to a human hand. The jointed "finger bones" of the flipper help the manatee move through the water, bring food to its mouth, and hold objects. Three or four nails are found at the end of each flipper.

All manatees are threatened or endangered. vulnerable to hunters seeking their hides, oil, and bones. accidentally hit by motorboats , and sometimes become entangled in fishing nets


Manatees are sometimes called sea cows