Manatee Awareness Month

From U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:

Happy Monday and welcome to November and#ManateeAwarenessMonth! We know y'all appreciate these gentle giants every day! Let's celebrate their awesomeness with a video of our #Manatee Manners series from the USFWS Southeast Region:http://bit.ly/1o43Gz9

The Florida manatee occurs primarily in Florida and southeastern Georgia. It is usually found in freshwater, brackish, and saltwater habitats. Because manatees cannot survive very long in water below 68 degrees Fahrenheit, south Florida and some natural springs make to the Florida manatee’s natural winter range:http://1.usa.gov/1A5chI0.

Manatees depend on seagrass and other aquatic vegetation for food. In the winter, they congregate around warm water springs and man-made sources of warm water such as power plant discharges. Manatees can live for several decades. Adult females give birth to a calf about once every three years.

Photo: Manatee resting near a school of mangrove snappers at the Three Sisters Springs in Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge Complex. (Keith Ramos/USFWS)