Manatees are known as the gentle giants of the sea. The name manatí is derived from the Taíno language (a pre-Columbian people of the Caribbean) which means ‘breast’. A typical manatee can grow up to 4 metres, weigh up to 590kg and live up till 60 to 70 years. Despite their large size, they are extremely elegant swimmers that can swim up to 30km/h in the water. Manatees are herbivores that like to graze on the sea floor and feed on the sea grass. Thus they are nicknamed as sea cows. In relation to this, manatees also play an important role in maintaining a healthy ecosystem. Because they eat a lot of sea grass, they keep the grass short which helps maintain the health of the sea grass beds.
Being mammals, manatees breathe with their lungs. Comparing with another mammal, the appearance of manatees are similar whales as both have a flattened tail and a pair of flippers. These flippers are used to guide the manatees through the water and to grab onto objects including the food they consume. Sometimes, manatees even ‘walk’ on their flippers! However, although manatees may closely resemble whales or seals, their closest relatives are actually the elephants.
There are three species of manatee in the world, and they are distinguished by the location in which they live in. Firstly, the West Indian manatees. They have grey or brown skin and are the largest sized animals in the sirenian order. West Indian manatees can be found in places along the southeast coast of North America (Florida etc.), the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and Central America. Furthermore, there are two subspecies of this particular species of manatees. One is the Florida manatee which can be found along the southeastern coasts of America and the Gulf of Mexico whereas the other one, the Antillean manatee can be found in the Caribbean and along Central America. The difference between these two subspecies is that the Antillean manatee is smaller in size than the Florida manatee. Secondly, the Amazonian manatee which lives in the Amazon River. This is the smallest member of the manatees and has smooth skin and no nails on its forelimbs. Lastly, the third species is the West African manatee. This manatee is similar in appearance to the West Indian manatee except that it has a blunter snout. It can be found off the west coast of Africa.