Manatees

5 Pages 1204 Words

With a face only its mother could love, a body able to discourage any predators just because of its large size and the knack for gaining popularity even as its population decreases, the Florida manatee has become an icon of Florida wildlife. In January 2000, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission counted only a little more than 2,200 manatees surviving. In 1999, the all-time high death toll was 268, and within the first three months of this year, 100 had already died. The Florida manatee is on the brink of extinction.
The manatee is a large, seal-like body that tapers to a powerful flat tail. Two agile forelimbs with three to four toenails on each, which act like arms to help the manatee move in shallow water, grasp and move food toward their mouths, and act like flippers during swimming. Thick and wrinkled skin with a rough texture - a bit jiggly under the neck and arms. Their skin reacts to touch, their bodies are very muscular - contracting and changing shape slightly when scratched or tickled. Powerful upper lips which articulate to help move food or dig through sediment. They average 9 to 10 feet long, weighing around 1,000 lbs. They can grow as large as 13 feet and weigh more than 3,000 lbs. Calves are born weighing about 40 lbs, gaining about 700 lbs. during their first year.
Gentle and slow moving. Most of the time is spent eating vegetation (100-150 lbs. per day), resting, and traveling. On average manatees can travel about 40 to 50 miles a day, sometimes farther. Chessie, the famed manatee rescued from the cold waters of the Chesapeake Bay and returned to Florida, was tagged with a locating device which showed he traveled as far as Rhode Island during hot summer months.
Some people believe Manatees are nearsighted, or may have limited depth perception. It is believed that they can differentiate between colors. It is unclear how manatees navigate in pitch black or mu...