Manatees can get cold stress. These gentle giants may look like tough guys, but they can be pretty sensitive to cold. In waters below 20°C, manatees can get “Florida frostbite.” Manatee fat isn’t enough to insulate their body temperature in the cold – which is why manatee deaths spiked in the Florida cold snap of 2010.
100 Mind-Blowing Manatee Facts
There are three species of Manatee (Trichechus). They are the West African manatee (T. senegalensis), the Amazonian manatee (T. inunguis) and the West Indian manatee (T. manatus). The West Indian manatee is the species seen frequenting the Florida Coast.
The common nickname for the manatee is the sea cow.
An adult manatee can eat 1/10 of its weight in a day.
Most mammals have seven neck vertebrae but both the manatee and the sloth have just six. This means that manatees can’t turn their heads.
Besides the dugong, the manatee’s closest living relative is the elephant.
Manatees face several dangers in their native waters: boating accidents can harm or even kill manatees and things like plastics in the water can cause health problems. You can learn more about how to protect manatees even if you live thousands of miles away, by visiting Save the Manatee.