12 Facts That You Never Knew About The Cow Of The Sea
by N/A, 10 years ago |
3 min read
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3531
Manatees are truly amazing creatures and these facts prove it.
1. Manatees can remain submerged underwater for up to 20 minutes, but usually come up for air after about 3 minutes.
When they do come up for air, they're able to replace 90% of the air in their lungs. Humans can only replace about 10%.
2. Christopher Columbus once confused a manatee for a mermaid.
A ship log dated back to 1943 states that he distinctly saw three mermaids, but they weren't as beautiful as he'd imagined they would be. He also said they had masculine faces.
3. Manatees have the smallest brains of all mammals when compared to its body mass.
4. Manatees are nearsighted and can't see the color red.
5. Manatees can grow to be 13 feet long and weigh up to 1300 pounds.
6. Manatees are threatened by toxic red tide and encounters with watercrafts.
In 2014, 19% of the manatees that died in Florida were killed by watercrafts.
7. The word Manatee is derived from the Carab word "manti," which means "breast or udder." That may be why they're called sea cows.
8. Manatees are the world's largest herbivores. They live mostly in rivers or coastal waters and eat up to 15% of their body weight every day.
9. Using their tails, manatees can swim at about 15 mph, but they're usually happy to float around at 5 mph.
10. Manatees are protected by Florida's Manatee Sanctuary Act which states that it is illegal for someone to "annoy, molest, harass, or disturb or attempt to molest, harass, or disturb" them.
11. Manatees have 2,000 hairs (called vibrissae) on their faces and 3,000 on their body. These hairs contain nerve endings and allow manatees to sense the world around them.
12. There are three species of manatee: West Indian, West African and Amazonian.
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