WEBVTT - How Do Manatees Work? 0:00:01.840 --> 0:00:07.480 Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey brain Stuff 0:00:07.520 --> 0:00:12.240 Lauren Vogelbaum. Here. Growing up in South Florida, I saw 0:00:12.280 --> 0:00:14.960 a lot of PSAs about how to watch out for 0:00:15.240 --> 0:00:19.520 and avoid harming manatees in our local waterways. I could 0:00:19.600 --> 0:00:22.200 still sing some of the jingles for you, but I won't. 0:00:22.560 --> 0:00:26.440 You're welcome. I never ran across one in the wild, 0:00:26.680 --> 0:00:30.120 but it's hard not to feel protective of these ponderous 0:00:30.120 --> 0:00:35.120 aquatic mammals in all of their bumbling bulk. Manatees are 0:00:35.240 --> 0:00:40.360 herbivores that migrate around networks of shallow, calm, warm, mostly 0:00:40.400 --> 0:00:45.920 fresh waters, including rivers, estuaries, canals, coastal areas, and saltwater bays. 0:00:47.280 --> 0:00:51.120 There are three species of these slow, sizable swimmers, the 0:00:51.240 --> 0:00:54.560 Amazonian manatees, which hang out along the Amazon River, the 0:00:54.680 --> 0:00:57.680 West African manatees, which swim the west coast and rivers 0:00:57.680 --> 0:01:00.800 of Africa and the Floridian and care be and manatees, 0:01:00.960 --> 0:01:04.280 which live along the America's East coast from Virginia to Brazil. 0:01:05.640 --> 0:01:08.200 For the article, this episode is based on How Stuffworks. 0:01:08.200 --> 0:01:11.880 Spoke by email Shyanne Canon and now the program project 0:01:11.920 --> 0:01:16.160 coordinator at the Save the manatees club, She said. Fossil 0:01:16.240 --> 0:01:19.440 remains of manatee ancestors show that they have inhabited Florida 0:01:19.480 --> 0:01:23.040 for about forty five million years. Modern manatees have been 0:01:23.080 --> 0:01:26.200 in Florida for over one million years, probably with intermittent 0:01:26.240 --> 0:01:29.840 absences during the Ice Ages. The present Florida manatee is 0:01:29.880 --> 0:01:34.560 a subspecies endemic or native to Florida. Genetic studies indicate 0:01:34.600 --> 0:01:37.240 that it is not derived from the populations in Mexico 0:01:37.400 --> 0:01:40.800 or Central America, but more likely colonized Florida from the 0:01:40.880 --> 0:01:44.320 Greater Antilles thousands of years ago after the last Ice Age. 0:01:46.720 --> 0:01:50.000 See lore has it that sailors used to mistake manatees 0:01:50.120 --> 0:01:53.920 for mythical mermaids. That's why the taxonomical order they belong 0:01:54.000 --> 0:01:58.600 to is named Synia, after the sirens of Greek mythology. 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:03.920 Manatees have rod heavily whiskered snouts. Their long, round bodies 0:02:03.960 --> 0:02:06.720 come to a taper at a flat, paddle shaped tail. 0:02:07.400 --> 0:02:10.760 Their two flippers each have three to four nails. Their 0:02:10.760 --> 0:02:13.799 tough skin is gray and wrinkled, and they are as 0:02:13.919 --> 0:02:17.720 cute as they are corpulent. At birth. They can be 0:02:17.760 --> 0:02:19.760 as big as four and a half feet long. That's 0:02:19.800 --> 0:02:22.360 one and a half meters and weigh some sixty five 0:02:22.400 --> 0:02:26.960 pounds or thirty kilos. When they're fully grown, manates can 0:02:27.000 --> 0:02:29.880 weigh around one two hundred pounds or five hundred and 0:02:29.880 --> 0:02:33.320 fifty kilos and reach ten feet or three meters in length. 0:02:34.080 --> 0:02:36.320 The largest of the species can grow to twice that 0:02:36.400 --> 0:02:39.200 weight and an extra three feet or meter in length, 0:02:40.360 --> 0:02:44.200 Cannon said. New research has indicated that manates have very 0:02:44.240 --> 0:02:47.520 sensitive body hairs, which are able to detect subtle changes 0:02:47.520 --> 0:02:51.799 in water movement around them. Scientists had previously wondered how 0:02:51.840 --> 0:02:57.400 manates might navigate, as their eyesight isn't very good and 0:02:57.440 --> 0:03:00.640 the manatees eyeballs, positioned far back on both sides of 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:04.200 its head, are slightly larger than marbles on such an 0:03:04.320 --> 0:03:07.360 enormous body, The dark orbs measure under an inch in 0:03:07.400 --> 0:03:11.560 diameter about two centimeters. They're about half the size of 0:03:11.600 --> 0:03:15.520 human eyeballs, but manatees bodies are, as said above, much 0:03:15.600 --> 0:03:19.799 larger than ours. They can't perceive colors outside of blues 0:03:19.840 --> 0:03:23.600 and greens, and tend to be near sighted. The shallow 0:03:23.639 --> 0:03:26.560 waters they live in are often murky, so it makes 0:03:26.560 --> 0:03:29.520 sense that they didn't waste too much evolution on their eyes. 0:03:30.880 --> 0:03:34.880 Those sensitive body hairs of theirs are called vibrissi. They're 0:03:35.000 --> 0:03:38.560 rooted in blood filled follicles that trevor nerve impulses when 0:03:38.600 --> 0:03:42.680 the hairs are touched or moved. The follicles connect to 0:03:42.720 --> 0:03:45.600 around fifty nerves each, which signal the brain of the 0:03:45.640 --> 0:03:51.280 increased pressure from any surrounding motion. Manates also hear far 0:03:51.320 --> 0:03:55.400 better than humans. They do best at higher frequencies, communicating 0:03:55.400 --> 0:03:59.720 with each other through calls and whistles. Scientists are investigating 0:03:59.760 --> 0:04:03.400 how well manates can detect low frequency sounds and if 0:04:03.400 --> 0:04:07.760 they use their vibrasi to do so. With adaptations like these, 0:04:07.880 --> 0:04:13.400 manatees naturally compensate for their blackluster vision. But okay, what 0:04:13.440 --> 0:04:18.640 are manatees like? Cannon said, Manates are incredibly calm and 0:04:18.839 --> 0:04:22.039 curious animals. In fact, they can be so curious that 0:04:22.080 --> 0:04:25.359 they find themselves in dangerous situations, such as approaching a 0:04:25.400 --> 0:04:29.720 boat in the wild. Manatees are typically independent, but they're 0:04:29.720 --> 0:04:32.320 not territorial and can be found in large groups in 0:04:32.360 --> 0:04:36.479 warm water springs. Manates are not aggressive at all and 0:04:36.600 --> 0:04:43.279 have no natural predators. They interact peacefully with alligators. Manates 0:04:43.360 --> 0:04:46.479 spend most of their time either resting or traveling with 0:04:46.720 --> 0:04:49.920 a lot of eating along the way. They forage sea 0:04:49.920 --> 0:04:54.000 grass or freshwater vegetation wherever they go. An adult manatee 0:04:54.040 --> 0:04:56.200 can eat a tenth of its own weight in twenty 0:04:56.200 --> 0:04:59.799 four hours, which can be a problem if that plant 0:04:59.800 --> 0:05:04.760 based diet becomes scarce. From December of twenty twenty through 0:05:04.839 --> 0:05:07.880 April of twenty twenty two, which was to be fair 0:05:07.960 --> 0:05:10.960 a difficult time for most of US, a joint state 0:05:11.040 --> 0:05:15.200 and National Wildlife Working group documented an unprecedented number of 0:05:15.240 --> 0:05:18.320 manatee deaths from starvation due to a loss of forage 0:05:18.360 --> 0:05:22.480 plants along Florida's East coast. It seems that water pollution 0:05:22.640 --> 0:05:24.719 had been killing off the beds of sea grass that 0:05:24.760 --> 0:05:29.279 manatees Grayson. However, they've been able to turn this disaster 0:05:29.440 --> 0:05:32.560 around in the years since by providing immediate help in 0:05:32.600 --> 0:05:35.880 the form of supplemental feeding and animal rescue and rehabilitation 0:05:36.360 --> 0:05:40.600 of plus long term support through habitat restoration and ongoing 0:05:40.640 --> 0:05:44.680 surveys of manatees migration, and health. They were able to 0:05:44.680 --> 0:05:47.680 close the case in twenty twenty five after having recorded 0:05:47.680 --> 0:05:50.560 no manatee deaths from lack of food in two years. 0:05:52.360 --> 0:05:55.760 While adult manatees are too large to have natural predators 0:05:55.920 --> 0:05:58.119 and can live for up to sixty years or more. 0:05:58.720 --> 0:06:02.159 Their lives are often cut short due to human related causes. 0:06:02.760 --> 0:06:09.680 The number one Culprit Watercraft Cannon explained manatees spend majority 0:06:09.720 --> 0:06:13.520 of their time in shallow water, especially in Florida. Boats 0:06:13.560 --> 0:06:17.400 are common in these same shallow waters. Boats present two 0:06:17.440 --> 0:06:20.120 threats to manatees. The boat propeller, which can cut a 0:06:20.200 --> 0:06:24.239 manatee multiple times, causing devastating damage, and the boat hull, 0:06:24.480 --> 0:06:27.200 which can cause severe blunt force trauma if the boat 0:06:27.240 --> 0:06:32.080 impacts the manatee at a high speed. If you're ever 0:06:32.120 --> 0:06:35.160 headed out on a boat in known manate territory, make 0:06:35.200 --> 0:06:38.240 sure to stay in deep water when possible, and practice 0:06:38.279 --> 0:06:41.800 common sense and take a few precautions. You can look 0:06:41.880 --> 0:06:46.520 up tips, but basically obey posted speed zones, aware polarized 0:06:46.520 --> 0:06:50.080 sunglasses to reduce glare from the water, and keep a 0:06:50.120 --> 0:06:54.279 lookout for manatees with a designated spotter if possible, especially 0:06:54.360 --> 0:06:58.799 when you're starting up your motor. Canon said the best 0:06:58.839 --> 0:07:01.479 thing that boaters can do to help protect manates is 0:07:01.520 --> 0:07:05.160 to boat carefully in areas where manates are common. Voters 0:07:05.200 --> 0:07:09.400 should also obey all posted speed signs. Manate zones are 0:07:09.440 --> 0:07:13.000 researched extensively for their importance to manatees and the likelihood 0:07:13.000 --> 0:07:16.320 that manatees will be present. Manate Zones are not decided 0:07:16.320 --> 0:07:19.400 willy nilly. Voters can also keep an eye out for 0:07:19.480 --> 0:07:23.000 manatees that may need help, such as lone calves, amanatees 0:07:23.040 --> 0:07:26.320 with fresh wounds, or manatees that may be cold stressed, 0:07:26.640 --> 0:07:29.840 and report them to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. 0:07:32.080 --> 0:07:34.720 While manatees have been known to be at risk for decades, 0:07:34.920 --> 0:07:37.360 hence the creation of these Save the Manateque Club in 0:07:37.440 --> 0:07:40.559 nineteen eighty one by singer songwriter Jimmy Buffett and former 0:07:40.680 --> 0:07:44.160 U S Senator Bob Graham, many advocates feel we're not 0:07:44.280 --> 0:07:49.240 doing enough to keep them safe. Kennon said. Manatees are 0:07:49.280 --> 0:07:53.120 currently listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. They 0:07:53.120 --> 0:07:56.280 were downgraded from endangered status in twenty seventeen due to 0:07:56.320 --> 0:08:00.640 their rebounding population numbers. Save the Manateque Club not agree 0:08:00.680 --> 0:08:03.400 with the downlisting, as many of the threats that resulted 0:08:03.400 --> 0:08:06.960 in their endangered status have either not improved or worsened, 0:08:07.800 --> 0:08:12.200 for example, based on population counts and death statistics from FWC. 0:08:12.800 --> 0:08:16.440 Eight percent of the Florida manatee population died in twenty seventeen. 0:08:17.320 --> 0:08:20.080 In twenty eighteen, when there was a statewide case of 0:08:20.120 --> 0:08:23.720 red tide, the minite lost thirteen percent of its population. 0:08:26.120 --> 0:08:29.680 But there are lots of ways to support manatees. If 0:08:29.720 --> 0:08:32.640 you find yourself in manit Territory, keep an eye out 0:08:32.679 --> 0:08:36.079 and appreciate these animals from a distance. If you're in 0:08:36.120 --> 0:08:38.760 a place to help with financial support, you can adopt 0:08:38.800 --> 0:08:42.880 Amanite or otherwise make a donation. And you can always 0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:47.400 support environmental science and conservation through your government representatives at 0:08:47.400 --> 0:08:51.560 the local, state, and national levels. For lots more, check 0:08:51.600 --> 0:08:55.680 out Savethemanatee dot org. They're not a sponsor, just a 0:08:55.800 --> 0:09:03.719 good organization. Today's episode is based on the articles It's 0:09:03.760 --> 0:09:08.120 Amnates Life, Swim, Eat, Rest Repeat, written by Michelle Constantinovski 0:09:08.440 --> 0:09:11.760 and and Manatees ce Underwater written by Kristin Konger on 0:09:11.800 --> 0:09:15.160 HowStuffWorks dot com. Rain Stuff is a production of iHeartRadio 0:09:15.240 --> 0:09:17.800 in partnership with houstuffworks dot Com and is produced by 0:09:17.800 --> 0:09:21.319 Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts my heart Radio visit the 0:09:21.320 --> 0:09:24.679 iHeartRadio app Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 0:09:24.720 --> 0:09:25.520 favorite shows.