If you have traveled along the coast of Florida, you may have seen a manatee grazing and wondered about what they are eating and how they find their food and chew it. Manatees are herbivores and feed almost exclusively on plants that grow in fresh and saltwater environments.

Freshwater plants include hyacinth, pickerelweed, alligator weed, water lettuce, hydrilla, water celery, and musk grass. Saltwater plants include sea grasses, shoal grass, manatee grass, turtle grass, widgeon grass, sea clover, and marine algae.

Manatees eat an average of 100-200 pounds of sea grasses and weeds each day. They large herbivores graze on the grasses and weeds for up to seven hours each day, ultimately consuming about 10 – 15% of their body weight.

Manatees use their two front flippers to pull or collect plants toward them. They also use their flippers to coast along the sandy bottom and dig for roots in the sand. The flippers scoop of vegetation and carry it to their mouths.

Manatees have prehensile lips, which means the upper lip is split so that the left and right sides can move almost independently. The lips use seven different muscles to tear away at the plants and the front flippers and well-muscled lips then guide the plants to their mouth.

Manatees do not have front teeth, but behind the lips, on the roof of the mouth, a manatee has ridged pads, which (along with the lower jaw) tear through the sea grass and then allow bite-sized pieces to go into their teeth for grinding.

The manatee has four rows of teeth twenty-four to thirty-two rough-textured teeth, which allow them to chew and grind vegetation.

Florida’s state marine mammal, the Florida manatee, is related to the elephant. These grayish brown gentle animals use their front flippers to steer and their flat tails to help them move forward through the water. Manatees playing an extremely important part with regard to plant growth in shallow rivers, estuaries, bays and coastal waters where they live. Getting up close enough to see them is a special treat for visitors to the Sunshine state, as well as residents.

Manatees are herbivores and mostly feed on sea grasses and freshwater plants. They can be found in warmer waters and are rarely found in waters under 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Manatees live in Florida’s coastal waters during the winter season, though some migrate as far north as the Carolinas or as far west as Louisiana during the summer months. During the last few years, some manatees have been spotted as far north as Massachusetts.

Manatees are well known for their slow-cruising, gentle nature and have also been known to body surf when they are feeling a bit playful. They communicate through the use of squealing sounds under water, to convey feelings of excitement or fear. Baby manatees are born weighing approximately 60 to 70 pounds and measuring 3 to 4 feet in length and they nurse underwater.

When in the Naples, Florida area, taking a manatee sightseeing eco tour is a great way to enjoy a close view of Florida wildlife. Manatee Eco-Tours out of Naples is the only sightseeing tour company in the world that offers and stands by it’s NO SEE-NO PAY guarantee. We offer an informative 90-minute tour that will allow you to see manatees in their natural habitat. It is very likely to also see other types of wildlife, such as alligators, egrets, dolphins, sea turtles and other animals that are indigenous to the area during the tours. The tours take you and your group to the Faka Union Canal, which is part of the Port of the islands and the 10,000 islands.