WEST INDIAN MANATEE FACT SHEET

Everybody has an opinion about Manatees.

POPULATION: highly endangered
REPRODUCTION: mature at approximately 5 years of age; gestation approximately 13 months; one calf born every 2-3 years; cows nurse calves up to 2 years.
PROBLEMS: boat/barge collisions; habitat loss; crushing/drowning in flood gates and canal locks; cold- related illnesses; ingestion of fish hooks and monofilament line; entanglement in crab trap lines and fishing trawl nets; pollution.
PROTECTION: violators of state and federal laws protecting manatees are subject to fines up to $20,000 and prison sentences up to 1 year.
BEHAVIOR: gentle and slow moving; surfaces to breathe every 3-4 minutes; spends time eating, resting, and traveling; often shy and reclusive; has no system of defense and is completely harmless.
HABITAT: shallow, slow-moving, rivers, estuaries; saltwater bays; canals; coastal areas; particularly where sea grass beds flourish.
RANGE: Winter - manatees concentrate in natural warm-water springs of industrial power plant warm-water outfalls in Florida.
RANGE: Summer - move widely throughout entire habitat; sometimes swim just offshore to travel or graze; sometimes travel as far as the lower Carolinas on the East Coast and to Louisiana on the Gulf Coast
FOOD: submerged (e.g. Hydrilla), emergent (e.g. Spartina), and floating (e.g. Water-hyacinths) aquatic plants.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION WRITE:

The Marine Life Preservation Society at mlps@earthlink.net