The Manatee

Manatee, common name for each of three species of a large water mammal, popularly called a sea cow because it grazes on marine grasses and other water plants.

The West Indian, or Caribbean, manatee is found in rivers and coastal waters from the southeastern United States and the Gulf of Mexico to the Caribbean Sea and northeastern Brazil. West Indian manatee scientific name is Trichechus manatus.

An adult manatee has a rounded body, usually colored light to dark gray or black that tapers to a horizontally flattened, paddle-shaped tail. It is 2.5 to 4.5 m (8 to 14 ft) long, depending on the species, and weighs 200 to 600 kg (440 to 1300 lb). The small head includes a straight snout and a cleft upper lip with bristly hairs, their head and face are wrinkled with whiskers on the snout. Its nostrils, set on the upper surface of the snout, are closed tightly by valves when the animal is under water. They have two forelimbs, called flippers, with three to four nails. The paddles like forelimbs are set close to the head; no external hind limbs exist. Massive, heavy bones and long, narrow lungs, which extend through the entire body cavity, give the manatee evenly distributed buoyancy.

Manatees live in small family groups, although they occasionally travel in herds of 15 to 20. They are gentle and slow-moving mammals who feed in both freshwater and salt water, grazing for six to eight hours a day. An adult consumes an amount equal to between 5 and 10 percent of its body weight daily. Manatees have a slower metabolism than other mammals of similar size, which sharply reduces their energy requirements. They graze for food along water bottoms and on the surface. They may rest submerged at the bottom or just below the surface, coming up to breathe on the average of every three to five minutes. When manatees are using a great deal of energy, they may surface to breathe as often as every 30 seconds. When resting, manatees have been known to stay submerged for up to 20 minutes. A manatee cow gives birth about a year after mating; usually a single, pink calf is born.

Manatees can be found in shallow, slow-moving rivers, estuaries, saltwater bays, canals and coastal areas. Manatees are a migratory species. Within the United States, West Indian manatees are concentrated in Florida in the winter, but can be found in the coastal and inland waterways of Central America and along the northern coast of South America, although distribution in these areas may be spotty.

Guatemala, is the only place where manatees live in an inland lake, and it seemed that Lake Izabal and the Rio Dulce, which connects it to the Atlantic, might prove both an ideal setting for observations and a good place for a refuge to be developed. Until very recently the western end of Lake Izabal was the manatees’ preferred habitat. Here two large rivers, Rio Polochic and Rio Oscuro, empty into the lake, and heavy silting and the frequent inundation of land nearby has created a lush swamp with innumerable small canals, not unlike the Florida Everglades, where, among profuse growths of grasses and water lilies, the remaining manatees sought refuge. For many years this was considered the only good place to hunt manatees in the entire region. Now it is well known that the "vaca marinas", the sea cows, have departed, "frightened away by all the noise of the refinery", say the fishermen.

Manatees have few natural enemies because of their size. However, their population has been reduced significantly by heavy hunting for hides, meat, and blubber oil, and they are frequently injured or killed in collisions with boats. A practical consideration that supports conservation efforts is the fact that manatees help clear plant-clogged river channels used for irrigation
The plight of the manatees is only a single example of a trend which is affecting almost all wildlife throughout the world. The extermination of a species is not reversible.