FAST FACTS ABOUT MANATEES
Manatees aren ’ t fast swimmers . They typically travel between 3 to 5 miles per hour , though they can hit speeds of 15 miles per hour in small bursts .
Manatees weigh up to 2,000 pounds and stretch up to 13 feet at full maturity .
Manatee fins have fingernails , one of many indicators that these creatures were land mammals 50 million years ago . Their closest land relative is the elephant .
Manatees don ’ t have predators or prey . They ’ re content to eat seagrass all day undisturbed . Fish may hover around manatees to eat algae off them , but manatees don ’ t generally come faceto-face with big predators such as sharks or alligators .
Manatees have marching molars . Their teeth are constantly shifting toward the front of their mouths . When the front teeth get too worn down from chewing , they fall out , and new teeth begin to grow in the backs of their mouths .
Manatees ’ mammary glands are in their armpits , which introduces a unique way of nursing .
Each manatee at The Seas Pavilion eats around 100 heads of lettuce every day . They also enjoy tasty snacks such as sweet potatoes , carrots , and apples .
Restoring seagrass is important not only for manatees , but for the mitigation of climate change as well . Seagrass sequesters carbon dioxide 35 times as fast as tropical rainforests and accounts for 11 % of total ocean carbon storage , despite covering only 0.1 % of the sea floor .