Wednesday Cute: The Majestic Manatee

Today’s installment of Wednesday Cute comes from Workman editorial intern Perry, who considers the manatee her patronus/spirit animal.

Today, I give you the Majestic Manatee.

Known for their gentle nature and slow-moving lifestyle, manatees are sometimes called sea cows. They live mostly solitary lives, only sometimes moving in pairs or small groups.

Manatees are herbivorous marine mammals, so they spend half their day sleeping and the other half grazing for sea grasses and algae, surfacing for air every 15 minutes or so. They can consume up to 10% of their body weight every day. Napping and eating in the deep blue sea? I’d say manatees are living the dream!

Manatees mostly prefer shallow coastal waters and rivers. They live in three main regions around the world: in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, in the Amazon Basin, and in West Africa.

Most adorably, manatees are often connected to mermaid folklore. It may seem like a stretch, but throughout history many sailors sighting manatees from a distance thought they were mermaids! Christopher Columbus himself made this mistake when he first sailed to America in a report that later became the first recorded sighting of manatees in the New World.

Unfortunately, all three species of manatee are classified as vulnerable to extinction–habitat destruction has hurt manatee population numbers, as have as tragic boat accidents. Because manatees move slowly and are fairly curious creatures, they are especially vulnerable to injuries from boat propellers. Many of these beautiful creatures carry the signature spiral scars from such encounters.

If you are a sailor, the best way to help these cuties is to stay alert while boating and to stay in deep water and move slowly. This keeps your boat away from manatee feeding grounds and gives them a chance to swim away.  If you are just a manatee lover like me, there are many organizations you can donate to to help protect both the manatees themselves and their habitats, including the Save The Manatee Club.

Finally, I’d like to leave you with a website that I’ve used pretty frequently during times of stress: Calming Manatee. Trust me, it will make all your troubles float away.