MANATEE

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© C.C. Lockwood

Trichechus manatus

Federal Status: Endangered (March 11, 1967; June 2, 1970)
State Status: Endangered (December 20, 1989)

Description: Large, docile, barrel-shaped aquatic mammal. Head small, flattened in profile. Upper jaw extends beyond lower jaw and nostrils placed on top of snout. Stiff bristles around mouth. Lacks external ears. Front limbs modified into rounded flippers that are much more flexible than those of cetaceans. Hind limbs absent. Tail large, spatula-shaped. Adults may reach 4 m (13 ft) and 1,000 kg (2,205 lb). Generally restricted to rivers and estuaries although manatees may enter salt water when traveling from site to site. Found in waters with dense submerged aquatic beds or floating vegetation. Herbivorous; eats a variety of aquatic plants.

Habitat: Marine open water; bays; rivers.

Distribution: Found along the northern Atlantic coast of South America, the Caribbean coast of South and Central America, and the Greater Antilles north of Florida. During warmer months individuals disperse from Florida as far west as Louisiana. An increase in sightings along the northern Gulf of Mexico coast reflects the increase in the size of the population along the southern Big Bend coast of Florida. There have been about 110 reported sightings since 1975 in Louisiana.

Reasons for decline:

1. Collisions with boats and barges;
2. Death due to flood-control structures;
3. Fish gear entrapment (in Puerto Rican population);
4. Poaching and vandalism;
5. Habitat loss;
6. Pollution;
7. Harassment by boaters and divers
8. Historically, overharvested for meat, oil, and leather;
9. Natural factors such as unusually cold weather and outbreaks of red tide may also have influenced population levels.

March 2004

Conservation efforts:

1. Public education programs;
2. Protection against harassment;
3. Enforcing no wake zones in areas with manatees;
4. Annual monitoring of populations;
5. Tracking of the animals during dispersal.