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There are four types of manatees: the Florida manatee, Antilliean, Amazonian, and the West African. The Florida manatees' population is estimated at 1,900 in Florida. Manatees migrate as soon as the water temperature goes below about sixty-eight degrees or they risk getting sick. During winter manatees will live near warm water discharge spots by power plants. This artificially heated water produced by the cooling system of a power plant is helps the manatee whenever the water temperature gets low.
Manatees live in rivers, bays, and coastal water all over the world in tropical climates. Manatees are sensitive to cold and if they stay in water below sixty-eight degrees they will catch a disease and will die.
A manatee is an herbivore and eats more than ten percent of its body weight in aquatic vegetation every day. They eat hydrilla, sea grasses, water hyacinth, turtle grass, manatee grass, shoal grass, mangrove leaves, and other vegetation.
Manatees have been killed by boat-related accidents and unfortunately boating laws are hard to enforce because water sports are very popular. Manatees have been drowned by being caught in flood gates.
Contribute to a manatee conservation fund and drive carefully when boating.
Manatees are gentle animals and usually semi-social. Adult manatees weigh between 1,500 and 3,800 pounds and are about eleven feet long. Females are generally larger than males. They are large rounded animals that slowly move along the surface of the water with their rounded paddle shaped tail and two pectoral flippers used for steering. They are usually a gray-brown color but algae and other organisms may grow on them causing other coloration.
