Florida Manatee

Title

Florida Manatee

Artist

Catherine Sherman

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

"Florida Manatee" by Catherine Sherman.

A manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) travels in Tarpon Basin of Key Largo, Florida, grazing on sea grass.

Manatees live in shallow, calm rivers, estuaries, saltwater bays, canals, and coastal areas. Manatees move from fresh to salt water with no problem. The Florida manatee frequents most areas of Florida. During the summer months a few travel as far north as Virginia and the Carolinas, according to the Dolphin Research Center.

Manatees are large, slow-moving animals -- attributes make them vulnerable to hunters seeking their hides, oil, and bones in areas where they aren't protected. Manatee numbers declined throughout the last century, mostly because of hunting pressure. Today, manatees continue to be at-risk. Though protected by laws, they still face threats. The gentle beasts are often accidentally hit by motorboats in ever more crowded waters, and sometimes become entangled in fishing nets.

Manatees are about 4-4.5 feet (1.2-1.4 m) long when they are born and average 60-70 pounds (27-32 kg). Full-grown manatees weigh between 800 to 1,200 pounds (360-545 kg) and reach 10 feet (3.0 m) in length. They can grow to be as large as 3,500 pounds (1590 kg) and 13 feet (4.0 m) in length.

Manatee calves drink their mothers' milk, but adults are voracious grazers. They eat more than 60 different freshwater and saltwater grasses, weeds, and algae and other plants. A manatee can eat a tenth of its own weight in just 24 hours.

The mermaid legend may have originated from sailors seeing manatees in the distance. Part of the manatee legend remains in the name of their animal order, Sirenia, which comes from the Greek mythical legend of sirens who sang songs to lure ships into rocky shores. Three species of manatee exist: West Indian, Amazonian, and West African. The West Indian manatee is divided into two separate subspecies: Florida manatee and Caribbean manatee. They are thought to be distinct subspecies because of the large body of water separating them from one another. Manatees are distant relatives of elephants.

Featured in "USA Photographers Only" group (04/06/2019); "Wildlife One a Day" group (04/22/2019); "Florida - Art of the Sunshine State" group (03/07/2021)

Uploaded

April 4th, 2019

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