Wildlife Fact Sheet

Sometimes referred to as sea cows, manatees can grow up to 10 feet long and weigh up to 1,200 pounds. Manatees move slowly through inland and coastal waterways at a rate of about five miles per hour. Don’t underestimate manatees though! At times, they can travel at speeds close to 15 miles per hour but only in short bursts. Manatees don’t like the cold very much, so to stay warm, they keep to waters that are at least 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Anything colder than that and manatees risk dying due to cold stress.

Each day, manatees eat around 120 pounds of food or up to about 10% of their body weight. Manatees’ favorite foods are different types of vegetation like seagrasses and mangrove leaves. Occasionally, they might ingest small fish or invertebrates attached to the plants they eat, but mostly manatees stick to a vegetarian diet.

Manatees surface for air every three to five minutes and can stay submerged for up to 20 minutes while resting. Because they hang out in canals and shallow coastal areas, manatees often come in contact with boats. Colliding with motorboats is a major threat, but in recent years the loss of their main food source, seagrasses, due to poor water quality has resulted in a high number of manatee deaths. Other human-induced threats include plastic and fishhook ingestion and loss of habitat. You can help manatees by obeying local waterway rules and picking up your trash.