Random Amazing Facts About Manatees (15 items)

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  (#1) Manatees Have Been Removed From The Endangered Species List

  As a testament to global conservation efforts, the majestic creature known as the manatee has been removed from the endangered species list as of March 2017. The astounding revival of the manatee population has taken the world by storm, but not everybody is jumping for joy just yet. While the number of sea cows floating around is back up in the thousands, many conservationists feel that the downgrade from "endangered" to "threatened" could adversely affect global efforts to save the species. In short, this downgrade could result in the dropping of certain protections that have greatly benefited them. 
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  (#2) These Resilient Animals Consume 10 Percent Of Their Body Weight In A Single Day

  There’s a reason why these sea creatures are compared to cows. Like cows, they graze on a fanciful herbal diet all day long - the only difference is that they sample the greenery growing under water. So, just how much aquatic vegetation does it take to sustain one manatee? Well, it depends on how much they weigh.

  A large manatee, like the West Indian Manatee who hits the scale at about 1,300 pounds, consumes nearly 130 pounds of food each day. An Amazonian Manatee on the other hand, who weighs about 760 pounds, would only need to eat around 76 pounds worth of sea grass in a day. As a whole, members of the manatee community are estimated to consume 10 to 15 percent of their own body weight in a single day.
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  (#3) Their Beautiful Hearts Are Round At The Bottom

  There’s no denying that the manatee is rather unique. This gentle giant’s body is extraordinarily shaped - all the way down to its heart. Like its distant cousin, the elephant, the majestic manatee’s heart rounds out on the bottom rather than coming to a point like most other mammalian hearts do. In addition to being different in shape, a manatees heart is also amazing because of its size. The average manatee has a heart the size of a basketball! That’s a whole lot of love to give.
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  (#4) Manatees Can Hold Their Breath For 20 Minutes At A Time

  Manatees are anatomically unique in several ways - and one of their coolest features is their lungs, which allow them to hold their breath for up to 20 minutes at a time. That’s pretty impressive as far as mammals go. Their secret? A manatee's lungs run the full length of their bodies, enabling them to recycle up to 90% of their oxygen intake. They also possess two distinct hemidiaphragms that work with their strong abdominal muscles to compress gas and improve their roll, pitch, and buoyancy simultaneously.
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  (#5) Throughout History, They Have Been Mistaken For Mermaids

  The old world (i.e., pre-LensCrafters) was a real mess and explorers were not too keen on announcing their discoveries. The manatee is technically a sirenian, but apparently the sailors of yesteryear mistook the animal for an actual siren, AKA a mermaid. As a result, history is hilariously riddled with documentation complaining about how hideous “mermaids” look up close. One famous voyager who is rumored to have made this mistake is none other than Christopher Columbus.
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  (#6) Gas Helps Keep Them Afloat

  Since manatees use their lungs in conjunction with their intestines to propel themselves through the water, they also have to pass gas in order to keep their balance - yes, that means farting. Making bubbles in the water is essential to maintaining the buoyancy of the manatee and they have an impressive amount of control over how much gas they make and how often they make it.

  Other sea creatures have swim bladders that work to keep them afloat; however, for the manatee, farting is akin to swimming and it’s what makes them appear to be gliding so gracefully through the water. As the gas is released, their paddle-like tails move up and down, pushing them along at painfully slow speeds.
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  (#7) Their Teeth Continuously Fall Out And Grow Back Throughout Their Lives

  Snacking on aquatic vegetation all day can really do a number on the teeth, especially when you throw sand into the mix. Since the sand grinds down their teeth as they chew, manatees have evolved to have an entire mouth full of molars waiting as back-ups. As the front molars wear down, they fall out and allow the back molars to move forward. Then, new molars begin to grow in the backs of their mouths, continually replacing themselves. This bizarre process continues for their entire lives and is known as "marching molars."
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  (#8) Manatees Are Enormous And Can Weigh Over 1,200 Pounds

  While these guys have certainly earned themselves the nickname “sea cows,” their closest relative is actually the elephant. And like their cousin-elephants, manatees are truly colossal. Some even weigh more than 1,200 pounds, with their elongated bodies reaching an astounding 13 feet long.
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  (#9) Manatees Are Born Underwater

  Manatees experience one of the most miraculous births on the planet. Like most marine mammals, manatees spend a great deal of their lives at sea; however, they still need air to breathe. Since manatee babies are born underwater, their mothers are immediately their heroes - right after they are born, mothers carry their little water-babies up to the surface and help them catch their first breath of oxygen.
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  (#10) These Mesmerizing Mammals Can Swim Within An Hour Of Being Born

  If you study animals long enough, you’ll come to learn that their instincts are incredible tools. In infancy, many animals - like the horse, giraffe, and zebra - can stand, walk, and even run within hours of being born. The manatee's gift from nature is swimming, as calves are able to figure out how to navigate the ocean's waters in less than an hour. Since manatees don’t have leaders or a rigid social structure, the bond created between a mother and her little one is the closest bond within the entire community.
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  (#11) They’re Attracted To Power Plant Discharge Pipes

  Manatees thrive in rushing waters where temperatures are over 60 degrees. And for this reason, many of these languid swimmers can be found congregating near power plant discharge pipes. Lake Worth Lagoon in Florida is an eco-discovery center that wild manatees drift in and out of frequently because of its power plant pipes. Some conservationists argue that because a human-created environment is warming up the otherwise frigid waters, manatees are actually still at great risk of endangerment.
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  (#12) They Touch And Feel Everything With Their Hair

  Much like the mermaids that these sea cows were once mistaken for, their hair plays an essential role in their existence. These massive marine mammals have more than 1,500 hairs strategically positioned all over their bodies in such a way that none of them touch one another. Instead, they touch everything else and are used to communicate information. Manatees can even pick up sea grass with their hair - no other animal on the face of the planet has hair that is used for both sensory and motor skills.
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  (#13) Manatees Can Swim Vertically, Upside Down, And In Fresh Or Salt Water

  The award for most creativity in the water should undoubtedly belong to manatees. They are amazing migratory mammals that sometimes even do stunts in the water, such as their adorable aquatic tumble-salts. They are sometimes even caught on camera swimming upside down. Best of all, though, is the manatee’s ability to adapt to either fresh or salt water environments - only a handful of sea creatures can pull off this feat.
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  (#14) In 2015, 17 Manatees Got Trapped In A Storm Drain

  One of the perils of being a manatee is the looming threat of humans, who are constantly setting unintentional booby traps that bewilder and entangle these gentle giants. One of the most bizarre situations on record took place in 2015 when 17 manatees were found stranded in a storm drain. Like an action film, the colossal creatures were saved just moments before they would have drowned.
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  (#15) Aside From Humans, Manatees Don’t Really Have Any Natural Predators

  As a testament to the detrimental impact that humans can have on animals, it is obvious that we are solely responsible for the manatee’s brush with extinction. In fact, these gentle giants of the sea don’t appear to have any enemies whatsoever. Even alligators give them the freedom to frolic through the waters unbothered. Even still, boating incidents and other human-posed environmental threats have taken quite a toll on the manatee population. Surviving manatees are often scarred from their run-ins with boats and other obstacles. So, while these maritime mammals are on the rebound, their future remains uncertain.

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