Spectacular Creatures: Manatees
Now that RGP is based in Florida, I feel obligated to give you a synopsis of local Florida wildlife. As the title suggests, today we’re going with Manatees, also knows as sea cows. Because of their appearance.
The beautiful, majestic Manatee is most closely related to elephants and hyrax (never heard of it), but it’s the only member of this family of animals to be ocean dwelling. Theory suggests that it evolved from some kind of plant eating, wading creature. Nowadays, they inhabit areas with warm water — notably Florida, although there’s also a West African and West Indian manatee.
Manatees tend to drift around near coasts and estuaries. They snack on freshwater plants as well as seagrass beds, so for them, staying near the coast is the move. Regarding Floridian manatees, they’re mostly around FL in the winter months, but can rotate all the way out to TX and up along the east coast, with one being found as far north as Falmouth in Cape Cod — truly the Ferdinand Magellan of manatees. Its adventurous spirit is inspirational. Having said that, typically these bad boys don’t go much past South Carolina and Georgia in summer months if venturing up the east coast.
The majority of a manatee’s time is spent eating, resting, and traveling; much like an instagram model, or someone trying to “find themselves.” Somehow, I’d bet money that manatees manage to do it with a little more mental peace. Manatees are herbivores, but they also end up downing some smaller fish and invertebrates as collateral, almost like an unintentional seasoning. Another interesting fact — because they’re mammals, they have to surface to breathe air. When they’re using a lot of energy they can surface quite frequently, but when they’re just chilling they can wait 20–30 minutes before coming up.
Manatees have no natural enemies. They are regarded as one of the most chill creatures on the planet for this reason, although it’s worth noting that sharks or whales could take one down if they inhabited the same waters. Still — how could you look a manatee in the eyes and hunt it? They are a huggable creature.
Having said that, manatees do deal with some dangers. Naturally, we’re talking about cold stress, gastrointestinal disease, and the like. Natural causes. All things must die. We humans also do a good amount of damage to the manatee community though. A good chunk of them die from being hit by watercraft, and there’s also just the fact that their environment is dying. That’s no way to live. One of the ways we can help protect manatees is to KEEP NATURE CLEAN — if you see trash anywhere, be it beach, parks, or even roadside, clean it up. It’ll wash its way eventually into the wrong spot if not properly disposed of. Specifically, fishing line is a major threat to these kinds of creatures.
We live in trying times as environmental protection goes, but keeping Earth clean is a grassroots movement, and it starts with you. It would also make sense to actually protect some key manatee habitats from boating which I assume is already being done. That would be for the best.
Ultimately the reason we clean trash here at RGP is because we love nature and it’s amazing natural creatures. Do your part. If you see a manatee, let it vibe. If you have a plastic water bottle, throw it out. There’s only so much laws and regulations can do. If you love what we do, follow on IG @theregrowthproject. Subscribe on patreon if you can dig it. We’ll be back with more articles before you know it.
