If you think that manatees look similar to elephants then you’re definitely onto something! Manatees and elephants evolved from the same animal over 50 million years ago, which means they’re sort of like cousins. It’s no surprise that manatees can weigh over 1,000 lbs. Commonly dubbed the “sea cow”, the manatee is large AND spends a lot of time grazing the meadow – the seagrass meadow, that is.
There are three manatee species in total: the West Indian, West African, and Amazonian manatees. If you’ve swam with the manatees in Florida, then it was a West Indian manatee you met.
Though manatees have lost their endangered status, they are still under severe threat. There are less than 6,000 manatees in the entire world, and they are officially protected from being hunted or captured under U.S. law.
In 2021, 1,110 manatees (about 15 percent of the population) passed away, making it the deadliest year on record. Most of these deaths occurred due to starvation. A large power plant in the Indian River Lagoon (IRL) of Florida provides warm waters during the winter months. Nearly one-third of Florida Manatees seek out these warm waters every winter, but the IRL has lost 60% of its seagrass beds due to harmful algal blooms and poor water quality, leaving manatees to starve.
With seagrass meadows continuing to disappear due to pollution from sewage, manure, and fertilizer run-off AND natural habitats being lost to coastal development, massive numbers of manatees will continue to be lost each year. That’s why Greater Good Charities is working to provide produce for manatees recovering from malnutrition. Want to help? Just a $25 donation can provide 30 lbs of nourishing food to help manatees survive!
The marshy coastlines and rivers of the Caribbean, Gulf Coast, the Amazonian Basin, and West Africa are where you can find the manatee. Because they primarily eat seagrass and seagrass needs sunlight to grow, manatees prefer shallow water. They also need warm areas to thrive. In fact, manatees CAN’T survive in temperatures below 60 degrees.
