There are around 5000 West Indian manatees living in Florida. If not protected, they will most likely face extinction. They are protected now under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 and the Endangered Species Act of 1973. It is illegal to harass, hunt, capture, or kill a manatee.
Manatees can weigh up to 1300 pounds and live up to 60 years if not killed by motorboats. Notice the scars left on this young manatee from the blades of a boat going to fast.
The Homosassa River. Up to 400 manatees migrate to the rivers of central Florida every winter, seeking the warm water, unable to survive below 60 degrees.
Florida Style
A pair of Wood Ducks, considered one of the most beautiful ducks in North America.
This manatee rises from the shallow water to take a breath. They do this every few minutes and can hold it for as long as twenty minutes.
Hunting of the manatee was banned in 1893. Folklore claims mermaids dervived from manatees.
It’s real!
