Readers’ wildlife photos

Today we have some nice photos and a video from reader Michael Coon. They feature a subject not often seen here: manatees. There are three species of manatees, all in the genus Trichechus. The one Michael et al. saw, which is the sole manatee living the U.S., is the West Indian manatee, Trichechus manatus. Michael’s words are indented:

My son and I just got back from a guided tour to see manatees in the Crystal River area of central Florida. Manatees can be found in large numbers in the winter months when they congregate at warm springs. There is little food for them then and, being herbivores with no blubber and low metabolism, they have a difficult time with cold water. So they huddle together in large groups to wait out the cold months. These migratory sirenians disperse during the summer months (manatees have been found as far north as Manhattan) but can be found if you have guides who know where they like to go. They are gentle, non-aggressive, can live up to sixty years and can weigh as much as 1200 lbs. Their large size means that, once grown, they have no natural predators. They tolerate humans who don’t bother them and the young are extremely curious and friendly and readily approach and “kiss” people (I suppose it is like human infants who sometimes learn about the world by putting things in their mouths) and they like to hug (really!). Their elders must spend up to eight hours a day hoovering up plants, so they haven’t the time for such nonsense. Still, they do not mind the presence of properly behaved humans and are very polite when they encounter us.

 

They are endangered—primarily from habitat loss and boat strikes, but they can also be harmed by red tides, storms and invasive algae killing off their best food resources. Precise numbers are difficult to come by but it is estimated that there is a remnant population of around 5000 left in Florida. I have about a half dozen photos and a short video showing the graceful way these large beasts move.

 

The first are the faces of two cows, one who had a young one in tow (more on her later). Both were large – our guide estimated their weights at between 900 – 1000 lbs. They have split, prehensile upper lips that they use to tear plants off the bottom. They use their flippers to gather plants and dig up roots and they have heavy bristles on their faces which they use to find their food (they have poor vision).

Here is an adult female (one of the two in the previous photos) showing a recent injury from a boat strike. Such injuries are so common that wildlife biologists use them to distinguish individuals. That is algae growing on her tough leathery but surprisingly soft skin.

They have powerful tails and can swim up to 30 mph when frightened. You can see some injuries to her tail that are also used to identify her. My guide told me this female’s name was Mrs. Robinson. Coo-coo-ca-choo

Our guide said this baby is about a year old (they are about the size of a rugby ball when born). She is the daughter of one of the cows in the previous photo.

Here she is giving my son some smooches. That little one took a real liking to him, kissing and hugging* him for more than five minutes. She even tried to take his mask off. Her mom monitored the situation whilst hoovering up plants nearby. She made no attempt to intervene.

Here is a young adult feeding.

This cormorant (I think that’s what it is) supervised us while we were swimming with the manatees.

And here’s our video of a large female manatee negotiating underwater structures.