Manatees made headlines this winter when a group of them, including a mother and calf, became marooned in a Florida storm drain and had to be rescued by marine biologists with backhoes and earth-moving equipment. Why such heavy machinery?
Manatees, nicknamed “sea cows,” can get big. Newborns average 4.5 feet long and weigh 70 pounds. Full-grown manatees weigh between 800 and 1,200 pounds, and can grow up to 13 feet in length. Slow-moving, graceful aquatic cousins of the elephant, manatees are truly gentle giants.
