Kelly Kohrs, age 12, of Chesterfield, Mo., for her question:
WHAT ARE MANATEES LIKE?
Manatees are peaceable characters, quite fat and rather lazy. Though they live in shallow sea water, they are air¬breathing mammals and in no way related to the fishes. Sailors of bygone days mistook them for gorgeous mermaids. This is odd because the face of the average manatee looks somewhat like a pile of old inner tubes.
The manatee, alias the sea cow, belongs to the Americas, though few of us ever catch a glimpse of him. Yet the big fellow reaches a length of 15 feet and may weigh about three quarters of a ton. He lives along shallow shores among thick masses of floating waterweeds and his gray skin blends with his murky background.
Ages ago, his ancestors must have figured out the easiest way possible to make a living. His secret lies in selecting an environment where his favorite food is abundant, where enemies are scarce and surroundings are comfortably warm all through the year. He belongs to the Atlantic Ocean, where his ideal homes are around the Caribbean, along the shores of Florida and the Gulf of Mexico, Central America and southward as far as the Amazon. His large long body is somewhat pear shaped, tapering to a flat, shovel shaped tail. He has no legs, and his arms are merely flippers. He has no front teeth, yet he manages to munch about 100 pounds of waterweeds every day. His bristly upper lip is divided into two mobile halves by a slit, which helps to grasp and gather the floating vegetation with the greatest of ease.
Like the seals, to whom he is not related, the manatee is an air breathing mammal. He can stay submerged only as long as he can hold his breath. As a rule, he comes up after five minutes or so. But some observers report that he can stay below as long as 16 minutes, if he remains calm and still.
This should be no problem, for the manatee does not favor strenuous exertion of any sort. When not munching, he lolls contentedly in a bed of tangled seaweeds. However, the easygoing character is neither dumb nor disinterested. In fact, he is quite curious about large moving objects in his surroundings, though his eyesight is not good. He often paddles close to peer at swimmers and passing boats.
Manatee courtship is a splashy affair that lasts about 10 minutes. Then the pair split and go their separate ways. After about 180 days the female bears a pink calf, 3 feet long and weighing 60 pounds. He is mature at the age of 3 and, barring accidents, can expect to celebrate 50 or so lazy birthdays.