All About Manatees

// April 28th, 2009 // Cancun / Isla Mujeres, Riviera Maya, Sea Life

Feed manaties at Puerto Aventuras, México

Feed manatees at Puerto Aventuras, México

Manatees are part of Sirenia (meaning “mermaid”) family formed by these marine mammals that are mainly identified for being vegetarians with a diet of 60 different types of plants as waterweed and mangle leafs. The word “manatee”, of Latin origins means “with breasts”, that comes from the action of breastfeeding their calves.

There are three main types of manatees: the West Indian Manatee that lives in the shallow waters of rivers and coasts of the Caribbean Sea and Mexican Golf, the Amazonian Manatee that lives in the Amazon, and finally the West African Manatee that lives in the coastal waters of America and Africa.

baby_manatee They are 3 to 4.5 meters long, and 300-500 kg. They have a trowel shaped tail (different from dugongs), two pectoral fins with nails, a big body, a gray-brownish skin; they breath through nostrils as the seals, and have some funny whiskers on their snout.

Females can have one calf every 2 or 5 years, which weights about 35 kg. and is 90-120 cm long. Mothers breastfeed their babies at least for 2 years until they are strong enough to grind and find their own food. 4-year old manatees are considered adults and they live up to 80 years.