Manatee Research Paper

Manatees are a highly talked about animal in our society today due to the fact that they love to reside in shallow waters along the coast of Florida, thus exposing the top of their bodies to possibly getting hit by boaters. This has sparked a heated debate as to what actions should and shouldn't be taken to protect the West Indian Manatee. Manatees are unique among marine animals because they reside in both fresh water and salt water. It seems as though they prefer rivers with true grasses, or calm environments where there are many sea grasses to eat and accessible sources of fresh water. All manatees have a broad back, no dorsal fin, and a small head. Their body color is gray but since they are always residing around areas with and
eating a lot of algae and grasses, they may appear to be brownish, reddish, whitish, or blackish because these algae and grasses have began to grow on them. Their skin is rough, thick, and toughened. A large part of these physical features is due to the consistent crashes manatees have with recreational boaters. Females also tend to be a little bigger than males. The Florida manatee inhabits coasts, estuaries, and major rivers of Florida pretty much all year.
When the weather warms up they can range as far north as Rhode Island and as far west to the Gulf Coast past Louisiana. During the winter they reside in Florida seeking comfort in the warm water or near industrial facilities that discharge heat into the water. Another type of manatee called the Antillean manatee resides in Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, and also along the Atlantic coast and up rivers of Central and South America, south to Brazil. These animals different from the Florida manatee will visit offshore freshwater springs, in order to probably
drink.
Now I would like to talk about the longevity and reproduction of the manatee. Manatees live for about 50 to 60 years barring the ever rapidly growing amount of them that are illegally hunted or hit by reckless recreational boaters. Male manatees are probably sexually mature at about nine to ten years. Female manatees are probably sexually mature by about seven to eight years. As manatee aging studies progress, sexual maturity may be estimated more precisely. Although females are usually larger than males, it's generally impossible to tell the sex of an individual without observing the underside. There's no marked sexual dimorphism other than the position of the genital openings. The female's genital opening is located just in front of the anus. The genital opening is closer to the tail in the female. Two additional ways to identify a female are the presence of a suckling calf, or an extremely round appearance during pregnancy. The male's genital opening lies just behind the umbilicus, about midway down the body. Finally, I would like to get to the natural and human induced impacts on the manatee.
The most pressing human-related threat to manatees is injury and death resulting from collisions with watercraft. In 2000, at least 78 manatees were killed by watercraft. Another important threat is loss of reliable warm water habitats that allow manatees to survive the cold in winter. Natural springs are threatened by increased demands for water supply and aging power plants may need to be replaced. Deregulation of the power industry may also result in less reliable man-made sources of warm water. Sea grass and other aquatic foods that manatees depend on are affected by water pollution and sometimes direct
destruction. Four Florida counties have state-approved manatee protection plans. The remaining nine key counties and several others have established speed zones for manatees. However some counties where watercraft-related injury and mortality continue to occur have almost no protective measures for manatees. I believe that all Florida and southeast Georgia counties where manatees regularly occur should have appropriate manatee conservation programs in place. Warm water wintering sites need to be secured. Important spring flows must be maintained in the Upper St. Johns River, Northwest Florida, and Southwest Florida, and other reliable sites must be secured in Southeast and Southwest Florida. We must ensure that sea grass and other aquatic vegetation are adequate to support a recovered population.