Facts About Florida Manatees

Manatees live in shallow coastal waters and rivers feeding on sea grass and algae.

Facts about florida manatees. Often referred to as sea cows manatees are large marine mammals generally about 10 feet long and weighing between 800 and 1 200 pounds. Manatees are grayish brown in color and have thick wrinkled skin on which there is often a growth of algae. Manatees are herbivores which means they only feed on plants. Manatees also eat algae.

Check out all these cool facts. That can equal up to 130 lbs. Seven fun facts about manatees. As herbivores they can eat about ten percent of their body weight every day and are chomping a good portion of the day.

Manatee was a 4 leg land mammal 60 million years ago. Mwanner via wikimedia commons. In 2010 at least 246 manatees died in florida due to cold stress from the colder than normal winter. The florida manatee florida s state marine mammal is a large aquatic relative of the elephant.

A west indian manatee can weigh more than 1 200 pounds. Manatees have two fore limb flippers that they use for steering movements and to hold vegetation while eating. This includes waters from virginia to florida and occasionally as far west as texas. Florida manatees generally grow to around 3 metres 10 feet but range in length from about 2 5 to 3 9 metres 8 to 13 feet and weigh up to 1 655 kg 3 650 pounds.

If you are from europe egypt is the closest destination to see a sea cow. In the u s manatees are found primarily in water above 68 degrees fahrenheit. They live in waters that are about 10 16 feet deep and these waters can be freshwater saltwater or brackish. Florida manatees are large aquatic mammals that are native to florida.

Manatees are related to elephants not dolphins or whales. However they may grow to over 13 feet long and weigh more than 3 500 pounds. According to national geographic a manatee can eat a tenth of its own weight in 24 hours. Read where to swim with dugong in the red sea.

Their front flippers help them steer or sometimes crawl through shallow water. Their closest relatives are the elephants. Adult manatees are typically 9 10 feet long from snout to tail and weigh around 1 000 pounds. The florida manatees population is about 6200 nowadays.

The antillean subspecies is very similar but is distinguishable from the florida manatee by measurement differences of cranial characters between the species. They can grow up to 12 feet and weigh 1200 3500 pounds.