Manatee
By Katharine

 The manatee, or sea cow, belongs to a group called Sirenia.  Manatees live in tropical climates.  They eat water plants.
           There are 3 kinds of manatees.  The Caribbean manatee lives in the Caribbean Sea and along the northeastern coast of South America.  It can also be found in the coastal waters of southeastern U.S.A. especially in the bays and rivers of Florida.
The Amazon manatee is only found in fresh water.  They live in the Amazon and Orinoco river systems.  The African manatee lives in the rivers and coastal waters of western Africa. These 3 species have been hunted for their flesh, hide, and oil and are all endangered.
         The manatee eats water plants.  Its upper lip is separated into halves.  The halves close like pliers on the plants.  A manatee can eat more than 100 pounds of plants in one day.  In Guyana, manatees have been used to keep waterways weed free. 
           A manatee’s skin can be from light gray to dark gray, with bristly hairs scattered all over its body.  Its front legs are shaped like paddles, and its tail is rounded.  It doesn’t have any hind legs. 
           When manatees come up to the surface to breathe, they are in danger.  They are too slow to swim out of the way of motorboats.  Most of them are killed when boats hit them.
           Other manatees make the mistake of trying to live in the warm streams that come from power plants.  If the power plants break down or close up and stop working, the manatees catch cold and die unless they find another area of warm water.
           Let’s try to save these endangered species so that we don’t have to with living without these fascinating underwater creatures.

Citations

Web Sites

Daniel K. Odell, "Manatee," World Book Online Americas Edition,
http://www.worldbookonline.com /ar?/ na/ ar/ co/ ar341280.htm, April 1, 2003.

Books

Wright, Alexandra. Will We Miss Them? Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge, 1992.

Images

Image of clipart manatee (top) from "Microsoft Office Design Gallery Live" <http://dgl.microsoft.com/?CAG=1> Images free for non-profit and personal use. (December-March, 2003). 

Photograph of manatee (bottom) from "ArtToday.com" <http://members.clipart.com/en/index> (2003).