Diet and Feeding Behavior: Manatees are herbivores, feeding primarily on seagrasses, aquatic weeds, and other vegetation. They use their flexible lips and prehensile snout to grasp and manipulate plants, often consuming large quantities of food each day to sustain their massive bodies. Manatees are known to migrate seasonally in search of food and warmer waters, traveling long distances along coastal and inland waterways.
Life Cycle and Reproduction: Manatees have a slow reproductive rate, with females typically giving birth to a single calf every two to five years. Gestation lasts approximately 12 months, after which the calf is born underwater and immediately begins to nurse. Mother manatees are highly nurturing, caring for their calves for up to two years, during which time they teach them essential survival skills, such as finding food and navigating their environment.
