Manatee Heaven
Welcome to my page devoted to those beautiful endangered sirenians, Florida manatees. In case you are unfamiliar with manatees, let me give you a little information about them.
Manatees are a grey, zucchini-shaped species of aquatic mammals. I'm focusing mainly on the Florida manatee, which is a sub-species of the West-Indian manatee. These mammals live mainly in waterways on the southern coast of Florida, feeding on vegetation they find in the canals and waterways. They are peaceful gentle giants, often called sea cows who just stroll through life placidly at their own pace. They are endangered because they are quite slow, and can't often get out of the way of a speeding moterboat and are hit and killed. The population today remains about 2200.
Manatees hold a very special place in my heart because they are graceful gentle giants I fell in love with about 8 years ago. What breaks my heart is that manatees are disappearing rapidly. Human-related accidents claim the life of manatees at a rate of one per day. There are only about 2200 manatees left in the world, and at this rate, they will be extinct in only 6 years if we don't do something!!! Please, look at my page, and see how you can help to prevent this from happening. We need your help.
Site directory
Manatee FAQs
Manatee pictures
When you see a manatee in trouble
Links
Zen rejuvenation
Did you know:
- A manatee's teats are on the back of their flippers. In pictures it may look like a calf is biting it's mother in the armpit, but it is actually nursing.
- Manatees have moving teeth! Of course, they move very slowly. Manatees have big grinding pads in the front of their mouths to chew up the vegetation they eat, and big molars in the back to grind up some more. All that grinding wears down their molars, and as a manatee's life progresses, new teeth move into the position of the old ones.
- Manatees don't have eyelashes. They don't even have eyelids! Instead, their eyes are surrounded by a very complex muscle that closes in a circle around their eyes
