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The Florida manatee is a large brown-gray marine mammal. Shaped like a walrus, it has two flippers for forelimbs and a broad, rounded tail. Although manatees can grow up to 13 feet long and weigh 3,000 pounds, average adults fall between 800 and 1200 pounds and are about 8-10 feet long. Their skin is thick and finely wrinkled with sparse hair seen from head to tail. Stiff whiskers bristle around their mouth.
These gentle, slow-moving animals, often called sea cows, are vegetarians, browsing on aquatic plants along the Florida Atlantic and Gulf coasts as well as in shallow, slow moving coastal rivers, estuaries, bays and canals. Occasionally, manatees range as far north as Virginia and the Carolinas and as far west as Louisiana during the warm season, but when water temperatures fall below 68 degrees, they return to the warm waters in Florida.
Manatees are an endangered species and protected by state and federal law. Please avoid harassing or disturbing manatees. Harassment is defined as any activity which alters the animal's natural behavior. By altering the manatee's natural behavior, you may create the likelihood of danger that is bad for the animal and against the law.
Check out the following links for detailed information on the Florida Manatee:
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