5 Things You Might Not Have Known About Manatees

Florida manatees inhabit the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. They embody slow, gentle, and somewhat clumsy giants within the marine ecosystem. During the summer months, they reside primarily in the Mexican Gulf. They can venture as far north as the waters of Cape Cod for their vacation. However, every November, they migrate into the warmer waters of Florida to evade the winter cold. Manatees possess the ability to swim in short bursts at 20 miles per hour. However, their typical speed ranges from 3 to 5 miles per hour. They swim akin to dolphins in slow motion.

Here are 5 things you might have not known about manatees.

1. They rely on power plant outflows to keep themselves warm

Even with their substantial body size and a weight of at least 1,000 pounds, manatees do not have a continuous layer of fat like whales. This absence prevents them from staying warm during the winter. So when marine temperatures fall below 68 degrees Fahrenheit, they have to move to areas of higher temperatures to survive. In the past, manatees sought warm springs for winter survival. Now, they rely on heated water from power plants for warmth. They often cluster around these power plant outflows throughout winter. Power plants made more warm spots for manatees up north. However, manatees go back to the same places each winter, they could end up in old power plants with no heat and die in the cold water.

2. Manatees grow new teeth throughout their life

Manatees spend 6-8 hours every day eating sea grass and other marine vegetation. Because the food has small sand granules, it slowly wears down the manatees’ teeth. As a result, the sea cows eventually shed their teeth and must grow new ones. At the back corners of their mouth, manatees continually develop molars. As the front teeth wear away and eventually drop out, the molars fully emerge and push new teeth forward. Another intriguing detail is that manatees lack the anatomical ability to use their teeth for attacking. This is due to the specific location and orientation of their teeth. Before you can access their teeth, you need to insert your entire hand into a manatee’s mouth. This makes it nearly impossible for them to bite or launch an attack using their teeth.

3. Manatees use their lungs to regulate their buoyancy

Manatees have lungs running along their spines up to the top of their bodies. This arrangement is similar to a flotation tank positioned along the animal’s backside. The sea giants employ their rib cage muscles to compress lung volume, enhancing body density for sinking. They then release the muscles to rise to the water surface for breathing. Even when asleep, their rib cage muscles relax and expand their lung volume, carrying them gently to the water surface. After breathing, the muscles contract to enable the animals to sink effortlessly back under water.

4. Relatives to the now-extinct Steller’s sea cow

Discovered in 1741 in the Commander Islands, Bering Sea, the Steller’s sea cows were animals of the size of a small whale. Following their discovery, hunters drove them to extinction by 1786. Fur hunters from the frozen north Pacific killed them in significant quantities, wiping out the population. Belonging to the dugong family, Steller’s sea cow reached 30 feet in length. It consumed kelp, lacked teeth, and thrived in cold environments, lethal to present-day manatees. Apart from their close link with the Steller’s sea cow, manatees also have enough exclusive evolutionary adaptations to enable classification in their own order, Sirenia. The order Sirenia includes the three manatee species (African, Amazonian and West Indian) and the dugong.

On land, the manatee’s closest relative is the elephant, exemplified by the 3-4 tiny nails on the end of every flipper of a manatee, which is quite similar to the elephant’s toenails. Likewise, the prehensile upper lips of manatees are similar to a shrunken version of the elephant’s trunk.

5. The biggest threats to their survival come from human activities

Manatees have no natural predators and due to their size even big 12-foot alligators give way for them to pass. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work with humans who tend not to give way to these docile and defenseless creatures. Humans can kill or injure manatees with their watercraft and often degrade the animals’ habitat by building up the coastline and blocking natural springs. Human activities also have accelerated the loss of seagrass, leading to both manatees and their environment beings classified as endangered. And even with up to 18 Florida counties having manatee protection zones that prohibit boat access or require boaters to slow down, collisions with watercraft is still a leading threat to manatee survival.

Are you interested in kayaking and swimming with manatees? Or would you like a thrilling, exciting and memorable manatee tour? At Captain Mike’s that’s what we’ve been helping thousands of adventurers, outdoor enthusiasts and nature lovers to achieve every year. We have some of the most stable, comfortable and safest boats, skilled, knowledgeable and experienced captains and boat crew, and the most reliable equipment and gear to make every manatee tour fun and delightful. And if you want to rent a boat, we have a huge assortment of kayaks to choose from. So just contact us as soon as you begin planning your manatee tour and we’ll help you achieve your dream outing with these lovely marine giants. For more information on manatees, manatee tours and outdoor activities around Crystal River, visit the “Captain Mike’s Swimming With The Manatees” site.

References: