Manatees essay

Quietly, but quickly, the plump, dark dog glided over the water

when making appears comparable to that of the squeaks and squeals of a whale

(Florida Manatee 1). A few would claim these aquatic mammals are definitely the ugliest

factor below the surface area, others might say that these types of animals happen to be beautiful and

resemble portly mermaids, yet no matter what anybody says about the manatees

they are unique creatures (Ray and Ciampi 315). They can be mammals that are

completely safe, they feed mostly in sea grass and sometimes small

underwater pets like prawn (Berrill 212). It is a waste for these

pets to be within the endangered varieties list.

Taking a look at the physical aspect, these types of animals are really uncommon

and like simply no other animal on earth. These majestic beasts can drift across the

water amazingly fast for its size (Florida Manatee 1). They can weigh up to a

ton, and get given that fifteen foot. They are almost devoid of curly hair, except for

a lot of whiskers on their face, and in addition they have inside ears around the sides with their

head. Their very own nostrils will be closed simply by valves, so they can accomplish this sort of feats since

flips and quick turns without losing any air. Manatees have no back legs, but

rather one big, flat, spatula-like tail (Sentman 327). This feature manufactured people

confound manatees with mermaids for almost four decades (OShea 66).

Many biologists say that manatees possibly originated or evolved from

ungulates such as elephants and cows as a result of way that they can be built, and

certain features that they have in common. Like elephants, manatees have the

peculiar half-moon shaped fingernails, and solid, wrinkled epidermis. Manatees as well

shares several traits with cows. The way the manatees spend all day lazily grazing

on the sea floor can be very similar to the tendencies of bovine at a pasture

(Breeden 58).

Manatees eat a great outrageous quantity of foodstuff, they consume approximately

ten percent of their body mass daily. The top quantities the fact that manatees

consume is another one of its unique qualities (Florida Manatee 1). Persons use the

manatees as all-natural underwater garden mowers, placing them free of charge in lakes that

have too much sea grass or plants. The manatees subsequently eat up the

vegetation, which will frees up space allowing other animals to inhabit the pond.

Manatees are also used to clear up pathways and irrigation rivers that are clogged

with an extreme sum of marine plants (Manatee Facts 1). The large diet plan can

become a disadvantage. Together with the amount of vegetation in manatee habitats

decreasing tremendously, the manatees are at risk to starving to extinction.

The underwater crops do not make it through because of guys harmful deeds such as

air pollution, erosion caused by deforestation, and draining wetlands for the

building of coastal homes. Since the 1971s, in Tampa Bay alone, eighty percent

of sea-grass beds include vanished as a result of these causes (OShea 68).

Manatees can be silly and clumsy sometimes, they have extremely bad

visual acuity and do not have attribute of sonar or perhaps echo location that a few

underwater mammals have. This kind of causes those to occasionally lump into huge

underwater rocks and other submerged objects. Poor people navigational talents of

the manatee is an obvious disadvantage. A fast oncoming boat is probably not seen simply by

a manatee until it is too late (Manatee Facts 1).

Manatees are mostly solitary pets, they feed alone and don’t travel

in groups. Even though sometimes, manatees may be observed in temporary organizations in which

they will socialize, and leave at any time. They speak mostly employing faint

whistles and squeaks, but some biologists speculate that they can use scent marks to

mark their location just like some area mammals. Newborn manatees will even stay with

all their mother for at least a year, and definitely will recognize her for the rest of its

life. If perhaps needed, nursing females can adopt a manatee leg that is not its very own

(OShea 70). This type of sociable behavior demonstrates manatees are incredibly

peaceful, and extremely friendly.

They are also very souple animals, shifting at the regular pace of 5

miles each hour. When provoked, they can burst to rates of speed exceeding 20 miles

per hour. They also is capable of doing various achievements such as barrel or clip rolls, somersaults

head stands, and sliding upside-down (Florida Manatee 1). On the many part

manatees can be found pasturing on the bottom in the ocean. They drift around

very little by little when doing this kind of activity, and they are usually unknowing of other things

taking place around them. This can leave them greatly susceptible to poachers

and irresponsible boatmen (Berrill 212).

There are 3 different types of manatees, the Western African, Amazonean

and the Carribbean. The differences involving the three are slight physical changes

and habitat. The bigger, and more acknowledged of the three is the Carribbean or

Western world Indian manatee, which lives off the southeastern coast states.

All three kinds of manatee kinds live in tropical or sub-tropical climates

and three types have legends, or misguided beliefs linked to these people.

The Western world African manatee is noted by a group in Mali, they thought that all

killing a manatee with out permission in the gods would give them a curse, and

only educated wise-men may perform this job. The Carribbean manatee was

recognized the moment Christopher Columbus sailed towards the Indies, and described all of them as

mermaids in his journal. Lastly, the Amazonean manatee is noted by the Central

American Siona Indians in an exceedingly unusual account. The Siona Indians thought that

a historical god was deceived and trapped by a tapir, a horse-like animal. The

tapir then put through the god to assault by piranhas. In revenge, the our god turned

one of many tapirs children to live permanently in the normal water as a manatee (OShea

68).

The manatees heritage can be traced by simply its name. As an example

their mammalian order, Sirenia, is given that name due to sound that

they made (Florida Manatee 1). Sailors mistook all their sounds pertaining to the noises of

Sirens, characters in Greek mythology who had the bodies of birds, and heads of

women. Inside the myth, the Sirens had such noises of sweet taste that they attracted

sailors to drive their motorboat onto rugged shores (Sirens 1). Their very own name, manatee

comes from a Carib Of india word for a womans breast. This is because the nipples

of your female manatee are very dominant. They are situated on the sides in the

manatee, it will be clearly seen from the surface (McClintock 45). Their particular

common play name, the sea cow, originates from an extinct kinds called the

Stellers Sea Cow. The Stellers Sea Cow with the same family members as the manatee

and used to live in the chilly waters from the Bering Ocean. The sea cow name lives

on, while the original marine cow will not (Sea Cow 1). The nickname was passed

to the manatees because of the relation with real bovine.

Unfortunately, the Manatees presently face various problems, in spite of

protective laws passed by the US authorities. Careless paddle boaters are the manatees

worst opponent, countless situations have led to the vessels propellers chopping

through the flesh of the manatee, and fatality usually happened. If the victim

manatee did not die, chances are they have life span propeller marks on their back. This

is known as a shame as it can be prevented very easily, and it happens to helpless

pets like the manatee. Other things kill manatees also, like herbicidal spray

avalanche control public works, and most severe of all, unlawful hunters. These types of present day killers

murder approximately 100 manatees a year (Manatee Facts 1).

However , these types of numbers will be minuscule, when compared to commercialized

hunting of the manatees back in the late 1950s. As a various as 7, 000 manatees

were wiped out in a year for that reason commercial hunting. Fortunately the

hunting slowed to a halt in the 1970s because humans had begun to appreciate the

effect that they were having within the manatee inhabitants (OShea 68).

Not taking into consideration humans, manatees have very little natural predators, but

sometimes manatees could possibly be killed in what they consume. Manatees take in a wide range

of aquatic plants, including dirt, which may have brevetoxin. Brevetoxin is

a bacteria that kills various aquatic animals including fish, and obviously

manatees. Brevetoxin is usually present in a type of reddish-brown algae known as

the crimson tide. Last July, the bacteria alone killed 304 manatees creating a new

established record for the majority of manatees murdered in a year (Toxin Killed Manatees A18).

Besides Brevetoxin, the manatees only natural ttacker is its unawareness

they sometimes drift too far north, and get killed by the cold sea water. This kind of

is a difficulty that whales and other large sea mammals also have to encounter. (OShea

68)

Having been examined seriously simply since the core 1900s, manatees are a

fairly new beast in the science community. That is likely because that

manatees are very timid creatures which makes them hard to analyze. Continue to, not

much is known regarding the manatees to this contemporary. We do not know basic

important facts just like where each goes in the warmer climates, precisely how long

they will live, and the most importantly, exactly how many manatees are in existence

today (Breeden 58). The possible lack of knowledge does not always mean that actions are not being

taken to research these animals. Recently, analysts attached satellite

transmitters to the manatee so that scientists can easily study their movement, and

speed. They have learned many new things from this study, including that they can

travel around up to fifty kilometers every day, and get back to a designated location every

time of year.

Further advancements in manatee research may help in protecting against the

unintentional death of countless of these pets. The research that scientists include

learned from the transmitters may help in managing boat rates in certain

areas to avoid the propeller deaths of many manatees, thus lowering the loss of life

toll. Your research will also designate specialized spots to guard manatees

these areas will be viewed very carefully by US Fish and Creatures Service

(OShea 71).

Scientists have no clue for the manatee populace before the

commercialized hunting from the 1900s, consequently , people have no idea of how large a great

impact guy has made within the manatees. Without even the statistics, or perhaps the exact

numbers of manatees killed by human beings in the past, we still know that man has

caused the majority of these deaths (Breeden 58). Whether it be by hunting, or

accidental incidents, guy is the manatees worst foe. To the average person

manatees may well not seem important but they are important to many life

including humans. Manatees have got ch

Category: Social Issues