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A manatee
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A injured manatee
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A manatee in captivity
Manatees are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivorous marine mammals
sometimes known as sea cows.
There are three accepted living species of Trichechidae, representing
three of the four living species in the order Sirenia: the Amazonian
manatee, the West Indian manatee, and the West African manatee.
They
measure up to 13 ft long, weigh as much as 1,300 lb,and have paddle-like
flippers.At birth, baby manatees weigh about 66 lb each.
Adult
manatees have just a set of cheek teeth, which are not clearly
differentiated into molars and premolars. These teeth are repeatedly
replaced throughout life, with new teeth growing at the rear as older
teeth fall out from farther forward in the mouth, somewhat as elephants
teeth do.
Manatees inhabit the shallow, marshy coastal areas
and rivers of the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, the Amazon basin,
and West Africa.
All three species of manatee are listed by the World Conservation Union as vulnerable to extinction. Manatee population in the United States reached a low in the 1970's, during which only a few hundred individuals lived in the nation. As of February 2016, 6,250 manatees were reported swimming in Florida's springs.It is illegal under federal and Florida law to injure or harm a manatee.Ships used by NASA to tow space shuttle solid rocket boosters back to Kennedy Space Center, were propelled only by water jets to protect the endangered manatee population.
Credits:Wikipedia