A unique and fun experience is seeing the manatees in Florida. Manatees come to the springs in Florida during the winter, and they spend the summers along the Gulf of Mexico shorelines. They eat eel grass and when they eat it all they have to move to get more. They are commonly known as sea cows but they aren’t actually fat, even though they look like it. They are actually big boned and have big organs. That’s also why they can’t live in cold water. Interesting fact – manatees are related to elephants and they’re smaller trunks work in a similar way to grab food. They have bad eyesight and they have hairs all over their body that can sense their surroundings. Manatees amygdala (aggression part of their brain) is underdeveloped, so they have no aggression and are very gentle.

Since they’re so gentle we can actually swim with them, which is what we did! We joined a tour to swim the wild manatees in King’s Bay, Florida. We got on a boat had to search for the the manatees. The captain used a drone to see flat water “pancakes” (flat water means that a manatee is swimming underneath). And the guide had to go to the front of the boat to see if she could see any and a few times she had to swim to see if they were there. Finally we got to swim with one. Everybody quickly but calmly got in the water. We had to be calm because the manatee could panic since it could sense our heart beats from 8 feet away. The water was freezing and when we got to the manatee it was huge! It was as big as a baby elephant. When I looked down I was scared a little, but manatees are gentle. We got back on the boat. Everyone was shivering. We searched for more manatees, but no luck. But we did get to see dolphins hunting! On the boat the guide gave us hot cocoa or tea. In the end, I am so glad we did it. 

Doing the tour made me care much more for manatees and make sure they stay safe. The Florida manatees are threatened – one step below endangered – because of habitat loss, illegal hunting, getting caught in fishing gear, and getting hit by boats. They also die because of cold water. Some eat plastic that sits in their stomach, which is really bad for them. But there are several ways to help them:

• Pick up trash you see, as well as fishing gear
• When boating, go slow and watch for flat “pancakes” on the water, which means a manatee is underneath the water
• Conserve water and don’t use fertilizer. The fertilizer seeps into the ground and goes into the lakes and springs
• When swimming, don’t poke, touch, pursue, corner, or dive on a manatee. 
• Don’t disturb a resting or feeding manatee
• You can also donate money to a wildlife refuge
• Report an injured or tangled manatee

Florida manatees used to be endangered but Florida conservationists worked hard to rebuild their habitat.