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10 facts about manatees

  1. Manatees are marine mammals and breathe air through their nostrils.
  2. Manatees belong to an order of marine mammals called the Sirenians. Dugongs are the other member of this family. Stellar sea cows were also a member of this family, but they were hunted to extinction within 27 years of their discovery.
  3. Manatees can weigh up to 2,000 pounds.
  4. Manatees closest modern relative is the elephant. Evidence of this relationship is easy to spot – both animals have three to four fingernails.
  5. Manatees are typically pretty slow, but, can swim up to 20 mph.
  6. There are four species of manatees: the West Indian Manatee, the Florida Manatee (technically a subspecies of the West Indian species), the Amazonian Manatee and the West African Manatee.
  7. Manatees are credited for being the basis for the mermaid legend.
  8. Manatees are herbivores.
  9. Manatees can live up to 60 years old.
  10. Manatees have no natural predators, but, they are peril. Find out more about their plight at Save the Manatees.

Do you have a great question for us? E-mail info@beachchairscientist.com.

Comments

  1. Anonymous says

    these r my fav animals i mean who doesnt think these things are adorable after seeing
    these pics think before you do bad things to the waters

  2. Anonymous says

    These animals are going exinct. I love these animals and they are super adorable and people destroy their homes by littering in the waters. I maybe adopting a manatee and I joined the save the manatee club. Please save the manatees!!

  3. Thank you for your comment!

    “The more you know about a species, the more you understand about how better to help protect them.” Alan Clark

  4. kill polluters, man

  5. that’s a little extream. just try to get people to pollute less.

  6. Manatees are adorable!

  7. yes they r :(.lets save them:)

  8. i love manatees they are sooo cute! thank you for some of the facts.

  9. Manatees rock! help them! they can’t do it on thier own. 🙂

  10. i know that a woman in FL was arrested and brought to court for touching (patting) a manatee at a beach in Bradenton. It was very clear that she was not trying to hurt the animal at all. Dont you think this is extreme???

  11. Manatees are so cute!!!! I feel bad that most of them died because of the boats and also the pollution.

  12. i love manatees. I feel so bad that most of them died because the pollution.

  13. manatees are endangered they need help! boats are also seriously hurt or even killed! please help the manatees

  14. This really helps for studying and getting work done for my project! This really helped me thank you!

    Manatees need to be saved and not hunted!
    #SaveTheManatees!!!

  15. manatees are endangered they need help! boats are also seriously hurt or even killed! please help the manatees

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