If you do any boating in the Florida area, you are bound to see this sign (or one similar to it). Because until recently, I had never seen a manatee, I decided to do some research to find out more about them and share it with all of you.

The manatee is Florida’s state marine mammal. They are a  large aquatic relative of the elephant.  Their coloring is a grayish brown and their skin is  thick  and wrinkle. Often times they have an algae growth on their skin. They glide through the water with their front flippers to help them steer and sometimes theykind of crawl through shallow water. Their powerful flat tails  help tp propel them through the water. They have small eyes and no outer ear but researchers think that they see and hear well.

The first thing that you notice when you see one is that they are HUGE!!  They can be ten to twelve feet long and they weigh 1500 pounds or more!! They are herbivores meaning that they eat marine and freshwater plants. We got a really good look at just how much they can eat while in Indiantown Marina where they came in to eat the vegetation that is on the edge of the water. It was pretty amzing to see the amount of green stuff that would disappear in a days time. They only have molars, which are used to grind food.  When their molars wear down, they fall out and are replaced with new teeth.

They like warm water and take up residence primarily in Florida’s coastal waters in the winter. It is rare for them to be found in water that is cooler than 68º.
Boat strikes are the leading known cause of death.  Propellers and hulls inflict serious or mortal wounds. Most manatees have a pattern of scars on their backs or tails after surviving collisions with boats. An example of what this looks like can be seen on the back of this one that I photographed at Gasparilla Marina.
They are known for their gentle, slow-moving nature. They normally rest and feed often. It was a thrill to finally see some of these creatures in the wild.  I will close this post with a photo that I found in a magazine so that you can see exactly what one of these look like. They are so ugly- they are cute. Hopefully, one day you, too,  will see one in the wild or in an aquarium.