Escapees November-December 2023
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They can grow up to 10- to 13-feet long. The majority of a manatee’s body weight does not come from fat or blubber, but from its skeleton. Manatees have a thin layer of fat between the surface of their skin and their muscles. Their bones are solid, heavy and help to keep it submerged underwater using little energy. At birth, calves weigh 60 to 80 pounds. Research found that females mature between three to six years of age, giving birth at four to seven years and usually producing one calf every two and a half to three years. The manatee is a plant eating mammal (herbivore) that must come to the surface to breathe. Manatees can hold their breath for as long as 20 minutes but often surface about every three to fi ve minutes to breathe. Like all mammals, they have hair on their body, nurse their young and are warm blooded. They spend most of their time feeding and resting, grazing on aquatic plants along rivers, coastal areas and the water’s surface. They have relatively small brains when compared to other mammals of their size and a life span of 50 to 60 years. On our visit, we heard “oohs and aahs” coming from the crowd as we stood on the sidewalk above the canal watching these slow, lumbersome creatures come to the surface in a rhythmic-like movement, to get a breath of air. Everyone was smiling and pointing at these magni fi cent creatures of the sea! Ava Fluty #122671
PHOTOS COURTESY OF LEE COUNTY PARKS & RECREATION
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November/December 2023 ESCAPEES Magazine
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