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Manatee Awareness Month

 

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West Indian Manatee by the US Dept of Interior

November is Manatee Awareness Month! Did you know there are three different, living species of manatees or sea cows? The three species are the West Indian / American Manatee (Trichechus manatus), Amazonian manatee (Trichechus inunguis), and the African manatee (Trichechus senegalensis). All three of species are listed by the IUCN as vulnerable which sucks. In the US, the major threat to our manatees is humans, specially watercraft collisions. Manatees are hard to see in the water and they are slow swimmers which lead to these collisions. We need to protect these creatures for future generations.

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