Facts about manatees. If you like this
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Manatees are large, fully aquatic and are mostly
herbivorous marine mammals. Also known as sea
cows. Of the four known species the Florida manatee
is a sub specie of the West Indian.
Manatee which prefers the warm waters
and migraines each year during the
winter season into the freshwater
Springs of northern Florida, with a
constant water temperature of 72 degrees
Fahrenheit. Florida Manatees can not
survive in water below 60 degrees
Fahrenheit due to their low metabolic
rate. Prolonged exposure to water
temperature below 68 degrees will
cause cold stress syndrome. Leading
to death respectively.
Manatee spent approximately fifty
percent of the day sleeping submerged,
surfacing for air regularly at intervals
of less than 20 minutes. The remainder of
the time is mostly spent grazing in
shallow waters to depth up to eight feet.
Florida's sub-species has been known to
live up to sixty years.
Adult manatees obtain the needed
minerals by chewing through the
mineral-rich send in particular during
the winter migration to the freshwater
Springs of northern Florida. They are
herbivores without any front teeth but
using a set of molars to chew their
food while grazing with a flexible upper
lip on a variety of water plants
such as mass grass, sea grass, water lettuce
and eat marine algae.
Sea cows consume up to fifty percent of
the body weight in plans daily, which require
them to grace almost seven hours each day.
Manatees don't hunt for fish but they
have been known eat small amount of
fish from nets occasionally. While fish
such as mullets graze on algae that grow
plentiful on the rough skin of the sea
cow.
Manatees typically breed every two years
and give birth to a single calve. In
general, gestation lasts about 12 months
and to ween the calve takes another 12 to
18 months. Females have two memory glans.
One under each flipper a characteristic
that links them to elephants. Nursing
their young always takes place under
water but calves are born with molars,
allowing them to consume seagrass within
the first three weeks of birth.
The mother communicates with its young by using a
large range of sounds. It is believed
that this is a huge part of the overall
nurturing process. These sounds includes
whistle, squeaks and chirpes.
Calves are very tuned in to the sound emitted by their
mothers and vocalization is an integral
part of their relationship. Cows respond to
squeals of their calves for more than 200
feet away.
Large alligators crocodiles and sharks
are the only known predators that might
attack and kill a newborn manatee if
separated from its mother.
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