Florida West Indian Manatees breeding at Blue Springs State Park
Manatees family Trichachidae genus Trichachus are large fully aquatic marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows The name comes from the Spanish manatí meaning breast They are mainly herbivores grazing in shallow waters and at depths of 1 2 metres 3 7 ft Manatees inhabit the shallow marshy coastal areas and rivers of the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico T manatus West Indian Manatee the Amazon basin T inunguis Amazonian Manatee and West Africa T senegalensis West African Manatee Florida is usually the northernmost range of the West Indian manatee as their low metabolic rate makes cold weather endurance difficult Manatees day is spent sleeping in the water surfacing for air regularly at intervals no greater than 20 minutes Florida manatees T m latirostris live up to 60 years moving between different salinity extremes They have a large flexible prehensile upper lip acting like a shortened trunk similar to an elephant s They use the lip to gather food and eat as well as for social interactions and communications Their small widely spaced eyes have eyelids that close in a circular manner They emit a wide range of sounds used in communication especially between cows and their calves and between adults to maintain contact and during sexual and play behaviors They may use taste and smell in addition to sight sound and touch to communicate Manatees are capable of understanding discrimination tasks and show signs of complex associated learning and advanced long term memory They demonstrate complex discrimination and task learning similar to dolphins and pinnipeds in acoustic and visual studies Manatees typically breed only once every other year since gestation lasts about 12 months and it takes a further 12 to 18 months to wean the calf Only a single calf is born at a time and aside from mothers with their young or males following a receptive female manatees are generally solitary creatures Manatees typically
Size: 5400px × 3665px
Location: Blue Springs State Park, Orange City, Florida
Photo credit: © Linda Sikes / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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