A large aquatic mammal that eats plants, with a rounded body and broad tail.
Its grayish-brown body has two front flippers and a large paddle-shaped tail.
The Florida subspecies of West Indian Manatee gathers at warm-water sites in winter, including springs and power-plant outfalls. It disperses more widely as water warms and feeds on aquatic plants.
Nutrient-driven plankton blooms caused extensive seagrass losses in Indian River Lagoon. From late 2020, starvation and cold stress affected manatees along Florida’s Atlantic coast.
Conservation responses include rescue and rehabilitation, seagrass and natural warm-water habitat restoration, and site-specific boat speed zones.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
For Florida manatees, seagrass loss, loss of warm-water habitat and vessel strikes are threats. Responses include rescue, rehabilitation, habitat restoration and local boat speed zones.