Manatees

There is a power plant along the Caloosahatchee River that expels cooling water into the river.  The county park has free presentations on manatees, a pier and a paved walk way to view manatees in the river.

All Living Things are Connected

Manatees are mammals that come to the surface to breathe air every three to five minutes.  They can grow to 1.000 pounds and up to 10 feet long.  Thank goodness they are plant eaters and never come on land. Because they are so large, they are slow moving and subject to injury due to speeding motor boat props.

Manatees Grow to 1,000 Pounds and Live Up to 50-60 Years

They like water no cooler than 68 degrees. That's why they hang out near the power plant, to warm up. They do not feed in the water by the power plant, but in the river a few hundred feet away. The thermometer along the river near the power plant indicated 86 degree water along the river.

Water in the River 86 Degrees

Despite looking like huge water balloons, manatees have a skull, backbone and ribs and vertebrae. Manatee bones have no marrow so their bones are dense and heavy.  If they suffer an injury to their backbone or ribs, their body tries to repair the bone.  However, the calcium continues to build, and not smooth like the original bone, and never stops trying to make the repair.

Manatees have Moving Molars

Manatees eat plants as they have molars in the upper and lower jaws.  They are unique as the are replaced horizontally throughout their lives.

Manatees are Distant Relatives the Elephants

As manatees only come to the surface to breathe, it was difficult to get a picture of an entire manatee. Usually they only stick their snouts above the surface to take in air and then they submerge.

The nature lady told us viewing is better in the morning when the sun is lower in the sky.  We will have to go back to get another look.