Manatees are herbivorous marine mammals also known as the Sea Cow. Their scientific name is Sirenia and they are in the family Trichechidae. The word Sirana is a mythical mermaid who lured sailors into dangerous waters. The Florida manatee is Florida's state marine mammal. Manatees are aquatic relatives of elephants and they are grayish brown. Their skin is thick and wrinkled which algae usually grows on. They use their front flippers to swim or sometimes crawl across shallow mud when they get stuck. Manatees eat mangrove leaves, turtle grass, and algae. They can only drink fresh water but can live for 3 weeks without it. Adult manatees can grow up to 9 feet long and weigh 1,300 pounds. Manatees have evolved from land mammals that had four legs over 60 million years ago. They were almost extinct after 20 years of their discovery because they were heavily hunted for their meat …show more content…
They are adapted to stay underwater for long amounts of time because their heart rate slows when they are submerged. Every breath a manatee takes it renews 90% of the air in its lungs. In comparison a human only renews 17% of the air in its lungs. Although manatees are excellent swimmers their maximum depth they can dive is 10 feet. Manatees live in both fresh water and salt water. They move between salt and fish depending on which one has the warmer temperature. In 1493 explorer Christopher Columbus wrote into his logbook about seeing a mermaid in the Caribbean. In the logbook he mentioned that the mermaid was not as pretty as sailors had described. This was not a mermaid, but a West Indian Manatee. A female manatee gives birth once every two or three years. Female manatees usually give birth to a single calf because twins are rare. The gestation period is about 13 months. After the calves birth the mother takes care of the manatee for a few years until it is able to survive by