The slow, gentle manatee — a creature often mistaken for a mermaid by long-ago sailors — is a fascinating aquatic mammal. Otherwise known as a “sea cow,” manatees can live 40-60 years, grow up to 11 feet long, and weigh in at a whopping 1200 pounds!
Manatees are primarily herbivores and can consume an astonishing 100-150 pounds of aquatic vegetation each and every day! Not surprisingly, they tend to look for habitats where sea-grass beds or freshwater vegetation grows bountifully. They like to inhabit the warm coastal waters of slow shallow rivers, estuaries, saltwater bays, or canals; because their bodies require them to live in warmer waters of at least 68° F, they gravitate to areas like the Amazon basin, West Africa, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico.
An interesting fact about the manatee is the way they use their flatulence. That’s right, we’re talking about them passing gas! Due to the large amounts of vegetation they eat, their bodies produce a lot of methane gas. While many marine animals have swim bladders to help regulate their buoyancy and keep them horizontal in the water, the manatee does not … instead, they use this extra gas to help them move around. They instinctively retain gas to rise in the water, and expel it to help them sink.
Back in 1967, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service noticed an alarming decline of the manatee, and listed them as endangered. They also began dedicated efforts to increase the manatee population. In 1972, they were designated as a protected marine mammal under the Federal Marine Mammal Protection Act, and to this day it is illegal to even touch a manatee unless it first touches you.
Surprisingly, their only real threat is us! We humans, with our sometimes careless ways, are the reason their existence has been threatened. With our ever growing real estate development of coastal regions — because who doesn’t want to vacation on the beach? — the biggest threat to manatees is the loss of natural warm springs. When humans inhabit those beach areas, they often pollute the water, as well, which in turn causes the native grasses to die off, causing the manatee that depends on it to starve.
Because they require warm water for survival, manatees have naturally migrated to man-made areas of warm water, such as those surrounding electrical power plants. While that might seem like the perfect solution to their needs, what happens if/when an electrical plant shuts down? Typically, the manatees return to the same warm place each winter; if they go where the water was artificially warmed and then the warmth is suddenly gone. they are trapped in water that is potentially too cold for their bodies to survive. This can potentially cause manatees to die off in droves.
Other threats they face are toxic algae blooms and boat traffic. Because the waters they inhabit are often shallow, and they are such slow creatures — 19 mph at their fastest in the water — it’s easy for them to get struck by both commercial and recreational boats. Once hit, they often die from the injuries.
While there is still work to do in helping conserve the manatee, their numbers have increased dramatically over the years since the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service first took steps to save them. From an estimated population of only 1,267 in 1991, their numbers have increased to 6,300 in 2016. The manatee is still “threatened” and laws remain in place to protect it, but they are no longer considered to be endangered to the point of imminent extinction. For the sake of this fascinating creature, I’m happy to report that their species as a whole is considered a conservation success!
Would you like to help the manatee? First of all, be sure to respect the environment where you live and visit, and be informed about the manatee habitat (especially when you are participating in water recreation like boating). You might even join the cause and adopt a manatee!
You can find more information about helping to save the manatees here: Adopt-A-Manatee
To celebrate Manatee Appreciation Day (this year it falls on Wednesday, March 25) with your kids, click here to download a selection of printable manatee coloring pages.
Please take time to visit their website and learn about
their Bible-based resources for home education.
