Real people exploring our environment, that is Eco-Hula.
Today, on Eco-Hula.
And now, we need tortillas.
Alright, today we are having some awesome fun!
We are going to swim with the manatees.
So we ladies are going to empower ourselves to climb in
And we get to do it right now!
Oh look!
Look, look!
Right there!
There’s one right now.
You can see that he’s a gentle giant.
And manatees are native to Mexico
And are also found in Florida.
The manatees live in a lagoon at Xel-Ha Eco Park
Near Playa Del Carmen, Mexico
And today we are thrilled!
We get to swim with them.
I am so excited!
Uh!
He is so cute!
He is so adorable.
Look at him.
Oh here he comes.
Manatees weigh between eight hundred and twelve hundred pounds
They are some big animals!
They’re huge!
But they prefer shallow, slow moving water
And are mostly sweet herbivores
So they are not dangerous to humans.
Manatees are very slow and gentle
They are actually called “the cows of the sea”
And they eat ten to fifteen percent of their total body weight every day.
That’s a lot of food.
We had to feed them lettuce
And listen.
You can actually hear them eating underwater
It is amazing to hear the chewing that’s going on with his food.
I love it!
We are blown away.
He is really, really big
He’s way bigger than me
And he’s totally soft to touch him
And he feels
Warm
Yeah, he feels warm
He’s so cute.
I think we are going to have to go touch him again.
While we were swimming with them, they emerged frequently.
But they can stay submerged for up to twenty minutes.
Manatees are gentle creatures.
They have mobile lips and don’t have sharp teeth.
Just molars for chewing.
So no worry about a manatee biting.
What we are doing next is that we are giving the manatee a kiss.
So I’m really excited!
Ah!!
I can’t believe we are going to kiss the manatee.
Are you ready to kiss the manatee?
Okay, we’re ready.
Pucker up!
So we are going to slap the water a little bit
And will try to call them in to try and give us a kiss
Sadly manatees are endangered
There are only about four thousand manatees left in the United States
And they don’t reproduce quickly
They mostly die from health related issues
And loss of habitat due to human factors
But you know what?
You can make a difference
Here is how you can help.
Humans who are boating or swimming should pay attention
And avoid manatees
Throwing trash, fishing line, or feeding them will harm the manatees
So don’t do it!
We got to hang out with manatees
How many people.
Awesome!
I know!
How many people get to swim with a manatee?
Oh my gosh!
Now we are going to go have a little snack
And a little sip of something
And we are going to go jump in the ocean again.
Wo-who!
Next time on Eco-Hula!