4. More About Manatees

First off, I found an amazing interactive video page that talks about how people and boaters are disturbing the manatees. At this sanctuary, which is at the Three Sisters Spring (A natural hot water spring that manatees frequent in the cold months) at the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge in Crystal River, Florida. Swimmers are allowed here, but are disturbing the peace. This causes manatees to leave the area, and if they do that in the winter they could die from the cold. The fact that there is a sanctuary is wonderful, but they need to ban swimming from the area. This sanctuary is not gated off like a zoo, but its just a place with stricter swimming and boating laws. http://www.sptimes.com/2006/webspecials06/manatees/

The taxonomy of the Florida/West Indian Manatee:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Sirenia
Family: Trichechidae
Genus: Trichechus
Species: Manatus
Sub-Species: Latirostris (7)

I had said in previous blogs that manatees need warm water. The minimum temperature a manatee can live in is 68 degrees farenheit. This is relatively warm, and if a manatee can not get hot water, it will die. (7)

I also came across another reason why manatees are dying out. The gestation period for a manatee is a long time. Females reach maturity at age 5, males reach maturity at age 9, therefore a manatee can easily be killed or die before it reaches maturity. The gestation period is also long, it is about 13 months. Mothers nurse their calves underwater for two years, and if a mother dies, the calf will likely die too because of its dependency on her milk. A mother usually births one baby, and twins are uncommon but hear of. Manatee's gestation is a natural cycle, but is a problem because of the human threat. (1,2,4)

Pictures: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Manatee_with_calf.PD.jpg
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS8yjXr_w_YKKwi0yHSp-8PUWjngxK9YAMX5imdhmoy9nDNCHUmjFm-nxTJwmVQP1O4E1dlHRX7X92lw-7tIUNBKp_V-qpfyM-gwQZE0haPeWkUaalCTgO7eoNjn_61iy8DmBk_2mnNp1u/s1600-h/manatee.jpg

3. Saving the Manatee from Extinction/ Conservation

Nobody wants to see the sea cow die out. So the state of Florida has created many laws to protect theses unique mammals that swim their coastlines. Florida manatees are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, The Endangered Species Act of 1973, which makes hunting, harassing, capturing, or killing a manatee illegal. 1978's Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act strengthens the previous acts (mentioned above) the US set. (2)

The Save The Manatee organization is a non-profit Florida-based organization that lobbies and creates places for manatees to live. It was founded by former Florida governor Bob Graham and singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffet. This organization saves manatees all around Florida and is the largest non-profit organization dedicated to manatees. (2)

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has created laws for boating and swimming in areas heavily populated by manatees. They have also created boat speed limits in other areas, and all boats in specific places must have a permit to operate. This saves many manatees each year. (5)

Picture- (5)

2. Hazards to the Manatee

The biggest predator to the manatee is the human. Although humans do not hunt manatee, their actions kill and harm them. The cause of 25% of manatee deaths are related to boating accidents. The amount of boats registered in the state of Florida has gone up in the past 25 years, and therefore the amount of manatees hurt or killed has gone up as well. Irresponsible boaters are leading manatees on the path to extinction.(7)

Another cause of death to manatees is a natural threat, but humans make the threat to manatees worse. This is the cold water threat. People are boating and swimming where there are hot springs in the water, and therefore driving the manatees away. This is serious because manatees need warm water to survive. Another human issue is entanglement in fishing wire, pollution, and overpopulation on the coasts. Seagrass, which is a food that manatees often eat, is being removed to make the ocean more "pretty". These causes are all human causes and are killing the manatee. (7)

There are other natural threats, like hurricanes and pathogens, but these are not the reasons why manatees are dying out. (7)

https://order.secure.myphotoclub.com/storage/users/93/93/images/3220/manatee5.jpg

1. Description of the Manatee

First off, there are many types of manatees, but I will specifically be talking about the West Indian Manatee.


West Indian Manatees are generally found off Florida's coast. They live in the Gulf of Mexico and The Atlantic Ocean right near the coast. This is a problem, because boats are harming Manatees extensively, due to the fact that Manatees and boats occupy the same area. (1,3)

Manatees are very large animals, they are related to the elephant and known as the sea cow. They can be 10-12 feet long and weigh 1500-1800 pounds. They are gray/brown in color and have front flippers that help them swim and crawl in the shallow water that they live in. Manatees are mammals, even though they are water animals. They are also herbivores, mainly eating marine plants and algae. (1,3)

Manatees live in shallow water, and need the water to be warm to survive. If there is a cold winter, populations often go to power plants or south where the water is warmer. This is also a problem because as the manatees go south, the water gets deeper and unsafe for them. The power plants are problematic as well because the machinery is unsafe for the animals. (3)

http://www.theanimalfiles.com/images/west_indian_manatee_1.jpg