Cool and Interesting Facts about Florida Manatees (Part 5) Extraordinary Manatee Trivia!

Manatee News 12 4 2015

The West Indian Manatee

Greetings! Here are some really cool and interesting facts you probably didn’t know about us manatees…

  1. The age of a manatee is determined by yearly growth rings in its ear bones. – Just like you count the rings across the diameter of a tree back to get its age, you also count the growth rings in a manatee’s ear bone to get its age!
  1. A manatee doesn’t have a daily routine, which it stays with or follows. – We manatees just take it one day at a time! We can actually feed, rest, or travel at any time of the day. Be it dark at night or light in the day!
  1. When looking at all the mammals in the world, it is only manatees and sloths that have six cervical (neck) vertebrae. – That’s right! Humans and even giraffes have seven cervical vertebrae.
  1. A manatee cannot turn its head sideways. As a result, it must turn its whole body around!
  1. Manatees are smart and seem to know when cold weather is coming in, so they’ll seek out warmer water locations. – Scientists still don’t know what cues manatees follow that results in this interesting weather-related behavior!
  1. Did you know water conducts heat away from the body of a mammal up to 25 times faster than air does? – It’s true! No wonder us warm-blooded manatees scramble to warmer water areas once cold weather is on its way!
  1. Manatees do not have eyelashes!
  1. Newborn manatee calves can swim to the surface without assistance and they can also vocalize at birth!
  1. Did you know that a manatee can move one side of its lip pads independently of the other side?

10. When a manatee stretches, it most likely will let out a big groan!

Stay tuned for another one of my blogs on “Cool and Interesting Facts about Florida Manatees (Part 6)!

If you are in Florida and you see a sick or injured manatee, please call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at: 1-888-404-FWCC. They are the folks who are responsible for rescuing us in Florida.

Here’s the Save the Manatee Club link to learn more about us manatees …

www.savethemanatee.org

Here’s a cool link for you to learn more about how we’re rescued and brought into rehabilitation …

www.wildtracks.org

~ Kobee Manatee

 

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Cool and Interesting Facts about Florida Manatees (Part 3), November 11, 2015

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