West Indian Manatee

• It has to turn its whole body to look sideways.
• It eats a wide range of water plants, as many as 60 different species.
• It lives in warm coastal waters, estuaries, rivers and canals of the Caribbean and the south-eastern United States.
• taxonomíaFor all that it lives in water, its closest living relatives are not other marine mammals but elephants.
• fisiologíaIt can eat up to 10% of its body weight in water plants a day, and its teeth are replaced continuously through its life as sand wears them down.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (mammal)

Habitat & environment

Warm coastal waters, estuaries, rivers and fresh and brackish canals of the Caribbean and the south-eastern United States

Birth weight

~27-32 kg (60-70 lb) at birth

Size at birth

~27-32 kg at birth

Sexual maturity

Female: 3-5 years | Male: 5-7 years

Gestation / incubation

~12 months

Litter / clutch size

1 young per birth (twins rare), with some 2 years between births

Lifespan in captivity

Documented record of up to 65 years

Sources consulted: Menjelajahi Perbedaan Manatee Dugong (traducido); ScienceDirect (Amazonian manatee progesterone study); Anatomical Record (Amazonian manatee reproductive anatomy study); FWC Florida; NPS Mammals; Ocean Info (Dugong vs Manatee)

Best time: From December to March in Florida, when it gathers at warm springs and at the warm outflows of power stations.