The West Indian manatee species is a very unique species. Known as the cow of the sea, the manatee is gentle and calm. As newborns they have a darkish gray colored skin with a light fur covering however, over time that fades into a light gray. They have wrinkled, broad heads with whiskers on the snout. Their bodies taper out to feature a large, flat, round paddle-like tail, with large front flippers. “The average adult manatee is 3.5 m long and weighs 1,000 kg. Manatees spend most of their time eating, sleeping, and traveling. However, the manatee is slowly, but surely, disappearing from their known bodies of water. On a scale ranging from extinct to least concern, manatees fall low in the endangerment area with ‘vulnerable.’ The beloved manatee numbers are shrinking due to overexploitation, powerboat collisions, coastal development, and many more natural and human-related causes. The US Fish and Wildlife Service created a …show more content…
The West Indian manatee is one of the largest coastal mammals in North America. It can be found in the coastal waters of southern Atlantic Ocean from North Carolina to Florida and the Gulf Coast. They seasonally migrate to warmer waters in the winter and cooler waters in the summer. In the winter, “manatees are concentrated in Florida in the winter, but can be found in summer months as far west as Alabama and as far north as Virginia and the Carolinas.” (Marine Bio, 2015) The manatee roams many different types of water such as, freshwater, brackish, and marine. They mostly depend on areas that have access to natural springs or manmade warm water refuge and areas with vascular plants. Distribution in Florida, and all parts of