Manatee Facts – 51 Interesting Facts About Manatee Facts

Facts About Manatees

Manatees are herbivorous and their food is mostly composed of water grasses, weeds, and algae.

Manatees can grow huge and some may weigh up to 2000 pounds

Manatees are often mistaken with mermaids and they are also the basis of mermaid legend

Manatees are voracious eaters and can gobble up a tenth of their weight as food in a day.

Even though they are aquatic creatures they must surface to breathe air and they breathe through their nostrils.

Young manatees are born underwater and mothers help them to surface to breathe.

Manatees do not become sexually mature until they reach the age of 4 to seven years.

The closest species to the manatees is the elephant.

Manatee has three or four tiny nails at the end of each flipper. The prehensile snout is a watered down version of the trunk and also use their lips to grasp and pull food in their mouth.

Manatees’ do not have any natural predators but their numbers have dwindled due to human activities.