Write For Us

Facts About Manatees 01 Narration

E-Commerce Solutions SEO Solutions Marketing Solutions
160 Views

  • Thanks! Share it with your friends!

    You disliked this video. Thanks for the feedback!

Danielle
Published
Website:
Facebook:
Google:
Manatees are large, fully aquatic and mostly herbivorous marine mammals also known as sea cows. Of the four know species, the Florida manatee is a sub specie of the West Indian Manatee, which prefers the warm waters and migrate each year during the winter season into the freshwater springs of Northern Florida with a constant water temperature of 72 degree Fahrenheit.
Florida manatees cannot survive in water below 60 °Fahrenheit due to their low metabolic rate. Prolonged exposure to water temperatures below 68 °F will cause "cold stress syndrome" leading to death respectively. Manatees spend approximately 50% of the day sleeping submerged, surfacing for air regularly at intervals of less than 20 minutes. The remainder of the time is mostly spent grazing in shallow waters at depths up to eight feet. The Florida subspecies has been known to live up to 60 years.
Adult Manatees obtain their needed minerals by chewing through the mineral rich sand in particular during their winter migration to the freshwater springs of Northern Florida. They are herbivores without any front teeth but using a set of cheek teeth to chew their food while grazing with a flexible upper lip on a variety of water plants such as musk grass, sea grass, water lettuce and even marine algae.
Sea cows consume up to 15% of their body weight in plants daly which requires them to graze almost seven hours each day. Manatees don’t hunt for fish but they have been known to eat small amounts of fish from nets occasionally, while fish such as mullets graze on algae that grow plentiful on the corse skin of the sea cows.
Manatees typically breed once every two years and give birth to a single calf in general. Gestation lasts about 12 months and to wean the calf takes another 12 to 18 months. Females have two mammary glands, one under each flipper, a characteristic that links them to elephants. Nursing their young always takes place underwater but calves are born with molars, allowing them to consume sea grass within the first three weeks of birth.
The mother communicates with its young by using a large range of sounds. It is believed that this is a huge part of the overall nurturing process. These sounds include whistles, squeaks, and chirps. Calves are very tuned into the sounds emitted by their mothers and vocalization is an integral part of their relationship. Cows respond to squeals of their calves from more than 200 ft. away.
Large alligators, crocodiles and sharks are the only known predators that might attack and kill a newborn manatee if separated from its mother. Florida’s Manatees was filmed by Heiko Kiera aka Ojatro in January 2014 near Chrystal River of Florida.
Category
Documentary
Be the first to comment