manatee-activity-book.indd

Check out our manatee decal collection!

Visit our Web pages to see the different decal designs available. Your donation to the Save the

Manatee Trust Fund helps with research, recovery, protection plans, habitat protection, sign

posting and educational materials for the beneﬁt of Florida’s manatees. Browse our Florida

Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Web site for more information: MyFWC.com.

A note to educators

Manatees, Florida’s Gentle Giants coloring activity book was originally created by the Northeast

Florida Regional Planning Council with input from the Save the Manatee Club and the Florida

Department of Natural Resources. Several updates, additions and agency changes have occured

over the years. This issue has all new graphics, updated activities and more educational information

about manatees. Please let us know if you have other suggestions to improve this booklet. Page lay-

out and updated graphics are by Lizabeth West. Page four graphics are by Ann Marie Tavares. Page

16 graphic is by Llyn French.

Please credit the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission if you use any of the text or

graphics from the booklet. Donations to the Save the Manatee Trust Fund are always welcome if you are

requesting bulk orders of our materials for your use.

Florida Fish and Wildlife

Conservation Commission

Imperiled Species Management Section

850-922-4330

MyFWC.com

revised 10/08

It matters to us

which plate you buy

Help preserve the future of Florida’s gentle

giants by purchasing a manatee license plate.

Proceeds directly beneﬁt manatee research and

conservation. Available at tax collectors’

ofﬁces and online at buyaplate.com

Sunshine State Standards

for Science – Grades 3-7:

SC.3.N.1.1 SC.5.L.15.1

SC.3.L.15.1 SC.5.L.17.1

SC.4.N.1.1 SC.6.N.2.2

SC.4.L.16.3 SC.6.L.15.1

SC.4.L.17.1 SC.7.L.15.1

SC.4.L.17.3 SC.7.L.15.2

SC.4.L.17.4 SC.7.L.15.3

SC.5.L.14.2 SC.7.L.17.3.

www.leeparks.org

“The printing and distribution of the Manatee Activity workbook is courtesy

of Lee County Parks & Recreation under a grant from WCIND.”

The Florida manatee before and after

work sheet

Before you start your lessons about manatees, take a few minutes to write down what you

know about these animals. Think about what you want to know about manatees and enter the

information below. At the end of your session, write down what you learned and see how your

lists compare.

Name: _____________________________________ Date: _______________________________________

What I know about manatees now What I learned about manatees

What do I want to know about manatees?

Based on what you learned about manatees, write a short story about the manatees that may live

in the waterways near you. Include area landmarks, waterways and marinas in your story. How can

manatees be better protected in these areas?

Remember, you can make a difference.

Note to teacher: Use the underlined words throughout this booklet as vocabulary words for your students.

Manatee protection

Manatees are classiﬁed as an endangered species and are protected under the federal

Endangered Species Act of 1973 and the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. The Florida

Manatee Sanctuary Act of 1978 designates the entire state of Florida as a manatee sanctuary.

If you see an injured, orphaned or dead manatee or someone harassing a manatee, please call

the FWC Wildlife Alert number, 1-888-404-FWCC (3922). You may also dial #FWC or *FWC on

your cell phone (Note: out of state cell phones may not work with this service).

To avoid breaking the law and being

charged with manatee harassment, DO NOT

do the following activities:

■

Give food to manatees

■

Use water to attract manatees to your family’s

boat or dock where manatees may be

harmed

■

Separate a cow and her calf

■

Disturb manatee mating herds

■

Pursue manatees or chase them from warm

water sites

■

Disturb resting manatees

■

Hit, injure or harm manatees

■

Jump on, stand on, hold on to or ride

manatees

■

Grab or kick manatees

■

Block a manatee’s path if one or more moves

toward you

■

Hunt or kill manatees

■

Use your vessel to pursue or harass manatees

■

“Fish” for or attempt to hook or catch

manatees

Remember to watch wildlife without getting too

close.

Activity: What are three ways that you can help

protect manatees? (Use list above for ideas)

_____________________________________________

Class challenge:

1. Participate in a coastal or waterway clean up

event.

2. Recycle ﬁshing line:

www.ﬁshinglinerecycling.org.

3. Make posters to increase manatee awareness

at your school.

Prehistoric Sirenians

For millions of years, long before Christopher Columbus discovered the New World, both dugong

and manatee (Sirenians) species lived in the coastal waterways, rivers and springs of what we

now know as Florida. Other Sirenian species were found in various locations around the world.

The following information will help you research these unique mammals.

■

Ancestral forms of Sirenians date back

about 55 million years.

■

Forty-ﬁve million-year-old Sirenian fossils

have been found in Florida.

■

The elephant (Proboscidian) and a

hippopotamus-like prehistoric animal

(Desmostylian) most resemble Sirenians.

■

Manatee fossils have been found in Florida

that date back to 1 million years ago.

■

Elephants, hyraxes, aardvarks and

manatees share similar characteristics.

■

Research shows that the earliest known

human inhabitants of Florida (Paleo-Indians)

hunted the manatee for its meat, bones, hide

and fat.

■

Recent Sirenian fossil discoveries in

Jamaica show that manatees evolved from

four-footed, aquatic plant-eating land

animals.

Activity: Research the prehistoric Proboscidian and Desmostylian species to see what these

animals looked like and then compare them to Sirenians.

Pezosiren portelli

What is a manatee?

The Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus

latirostris), a sub-species of the West Indian

manatee, is an endangered aquatic mammal

found in Florida’s waterways. While manatees in

general are sometimes called sea cows,because

they consume aquatic plants, the female manatee

is better known as the cow. A newborn or young

manatee is called a calf, and a mature male

manatee is called a bull.

What should you do if you see a

tagged manatee?

If you see a manatee with a tag (ﬂoating cylinder unit with an antenna) attached to its tail,

please leave the tag and manatee alone. The manatee tag is a tracking unit that contains

a satellite and VHF transmitter. The unit allows researchers to monitor a manatee’s travel

patterns, habitat usage or reproductive success (females). Satellite information is recorded four

times per day on each tagged manatee. The VHF beacon helps researchers locate the manatee

for direct observations. When you see a tagged manatee, jot down your observation of the animal

along with the tag condition, color or markings, the manatee’s location, date and time of sighting

and call in a report to the Wildlife Alert number, 1-888-404-FWCC.

Activity: Color the manatee and the bands at the top of the tracking unit. (Each tagged

manatee has a different color band or pattern.)

Remember to not touch a tagged manatee or bother wild animals.

The tag unit is designed to break away if

the manatee is entangled. Researchers

are able to retrieve the tag unit via

information from the satellite.

What do manatees look like?

Manatees are large, gray aquatic animals with thick, ﬁnely-wrinkled skin. From the blunt

whiskered snout, a manatee’s body is torpedo-shaped and then tapers to a ﬂat, paddle-shaped

tail. Two forelimb ﬂippers, with up to four “ﬁnger” nails, are located near the head. Like all

mammals, manatees have hair on their bodies. Although the hair is very sparse, it exists in short

strands from a manatee’s head all the way down to its tail. Manatees do not have external ear

lobes, eyelids or eyelashes. A thin membrane protects the manatees’ eyes when underwater. Stiff

bristles around its mouth help manatees hold food while eating.

Characteristics:

■

Small eyes

■

Finger nails on ﬂippers

■

Fluke – paddle-shaped tail

■

Peduncle (narrow part of the tail)

■

Nostrils (open and close like valves)

■

Ears (small opening)

■

Vibrissae – stiff whiskers

Marching molars

Tooth replacement is an adaptation to the manatees’ diet of aquatic plants that are

mixed with abrasive sand. Over time, sand wears down the molars, which can make

chewing plants difﬁcult. The adaptation allows for new teeth to erupt at the back of the

jaw and move forward until the worn-down teeth eventually fall out. Tooth replacement

(polyphyodont) occurs throughout the life of a manatee.

Activity: Color the manatee gray. Green or brown algae and white barnacles sometimes grow on

the backs of manatees. These natural colors help hide (camouﬂage) manatees in the water.

Population status and aerial survey

Activity: Look up the underlined words in the text below and write the deﬁnition on a

separate piece of paper.

The Florida manatee population is believed to be

at least 3,300. The exact number of manatees is

hard to determine because manatees live in areas with poor

water clarity, and their behavior of resting on the bottom of a

waterway can make them invisible to researchers during surveys.

Whenever winter conditions are good, researchers conduct a statewide aerial survey, called a

synoptic survey, to count manatees at warm water sites around the state. Researchers ﬂy in

circular patterns in assigned sections of the state on a selected day. Each researcher records

the number of manatees seen in his or her section, and then submits the number of manatees

counted to the FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute. The survey results are highly variable

because of the wind and water conditions, the glare on the water and the probability of bottom

resting manatees.

Endangered species status and conservation goal: The Florida manatee is currently

listed as an endangered species in Florida. The conservation goal is to effectively manage the

population in perpetuity throughout Florida by securing habitat and minimizing threats.

Aerial view of a warm water site.

How big do manatees grow?

A calf weighs 60-80 pounds and is 4 to 4

feet in length at birth and grows quickly during

its ﬁrst two years. During this time, the female sea cow nurses its young from teats found just

behind the base of the ﬂippers. This occurs until the calf is weaned from nursing. Although the

average adult manatee is ten feet long and weighs about 1,200 pounds, manatees can grow much

larger. The heaviest manatee weighed was 3,600 pounds and measured 13 feet long. Female

manatees (cows) tend to be larger than male manatees (bulls).

Activity: Find an object (small car, golf cart, etc.) that weighs as much as a manatee weighs.

Class project: Use roll paper to make a 3-D actual size manatee to hang in your classroom.

10 feet

9 feet

8 feet

7 feet

6 feet

5 feet

4 feet

3 feet

2 feet

1 foot

Average size person:

6 feet tall

150 pounds

Average size manatee:

10 feet long

1,200 pounds

Draw another

animal: ______________

height:_______________

weight:_______________

Help manatees stay on the road

to recovery

Floridians support the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s manatee

conservation, research and educational efforts by purchasing a special license plate for their

cars and trucks. The example below is a thank you to them.

Directions: Color the manatee gray and the letters black. The sea grass, which the manatees

eat, should be green. The skyline vegetation is also green. Color the water area around the

manatee blue.

By purchasing one of these speciality plates, people of Florida help manatees.

(If your family has a Save the Manatee license plate, “thank you for your support!”)

To nd out more information about the Save the Manatee license

plate, visit our Web site at: MyFWC.com. Plates may be purchased at

tax collectors’ ofces or at buyaplate.com.

Manatee anatomy facts and trivia

Activity: Use colored pencils to color the internal organs of the manatee.

■

The digestive system of the manatee

is adapted to process large amounts of high-

ﬁber, low-protein food (aquatic plants).

■

Manatees can eat up to 10 percent of

their body weight in aquatic vegetation each

day.

■

The intestines of adult manatees can

measure up to 130 feet in length! It takes

seven days for food to pass through this long

digestive system.

■

Manatees produce a large amount of gas

from the food they eat.

■

The lungs of an adult manatee may

exceed three feet in length and extend along

the backbone under the protection of the ribs.

The length of the lungs helps manatees with

buoyancy control and allows the animal to

ﬂoat horizontally and stay underwater for up

to 20 minutes at a time.

■

Manatee bones are massive and heavy

and lack marrow cavities in the ribs and long

bones of the ﬂippers. Heavy bones allow the

manatee to easily submerge in order to graze

on aquatic plants.

1. Manatees are wild marine mammals found

mostly in Florida’s coastal areas. When you see

manatees in the wild, please __________________

_______________ as this could change the

manatee’s behavior. If you see a group of

manatees close to shore acting aggressively and

thrashing around, it is probably a mating herd.

Do not disturb the manatees or try to get their

attention.

2. Collisions with boats are the single highest

human-related contributor to manatee deaths

each year. One of the ways that boaters could

help manatees is by _____________________ the

speed of their boats when manatees are present.

When boaters follow the speed limits posted on

waterway signs, they are helping to protect

Florida’s manatees.

3. Litter, ﬁshing line and storm debris are found in

Florida’s coastal waters. Do your part by

_______________________________________________

and by helping with beach clean-ups or

recycling efforts in your area.

Answers:

1. Do not pursue, disturb or harass

manatees

2. Reducing or slowing

3. Keeping litter, ﬁshing line, garbage,

etc. out of the waterways.

Manatee conservation

Fill in the blank space in the sentences below. Think about what the picture is suggesting you do

for manatee conservation.

(Color the circle/slash red)

Where can you ﬁnd manatees in

Florida?

Manatees are found throughout Florida water-ways

including rivers, estuaries, saltwater bays, canals

and coastal areas, particularly where sea grass

beds and other aquatic plants grow. During the

summer months, manatees may travel as far north

as Virginia or Rhode Island and as far west as

Texas. When winter approaches, manatees return

to the warmer waters around Florida, aggregating

in natural warm-water springs or at power plant

discharge canals (+).

Several facilities are used to rehabilitate injured

or sick wild manatees. Rehabilitated manatees may

be put on display prior to release at the following

locations:

■

Lowry Park Zoo + (Tampa)

■

Miami Seaquarium + (Miami)

■

SeaWorld of Florida + (Orlando)

Other Florida attractions or parks provide

manatee education programs and minimal

rehabilitation service*

■

Blue Spring State Park + (Orange City)

■

Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge (Crystal

River)

■

Disney’s Epcot Center – Living Seas exhibit* +

(Orlando)

■

Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park +

(Wakulla Springs)

■

Homosassa Springs State Wildlife Park*

Blue Waters + (Homosassa Springs)

■

Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge +

(Merritt Island)

■

Manatee Springs State Park (Chieﬂand)

■

Moore’s Creek – Fort Pierce Utilities Authority +

(Fort Pierce)

■

Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium

(Sarasota)

■

Lee County Manatee Park at the Orange River

and Florida Power & Light discharge canal +

(Fort Myers)

■

South Florida Museum/Parker Manatee

Aquarium* (Bradenton)

■

Tampa Electric Company’s Manatee Viewing

Center + (Apollo Beach)

Activity: On the map, circle the places where you have seen wild manatees. Put a check mark

(

a) on the places where you have seen rehabilitated manatees or manatees on display.

What do waterway signs mean?

Color the sign border and shapes, below, ORANGE. The sign background is WHITE.

A, B, A, C, B, C

A. A circle shape means

– follow the posted rule on

the sign.

B. A diamond shape means

– DANGER! Look out for

something in the water.

C. A diamond shape with

a cross inside means – DO

NOT ENTER! (all vessels)

Activity:

Match the following messages to the correct

sign. Write A, B or C next to the sign

messages. Check your answers to see if you

are right.

____ Idle Speed – No Wake

____ Rocks

____ Slow Speed – Minimum Wake

____ Manatee Refuge

____ Stump(s)

____ Swim Area

Answers:

To report damaged waterway signs,

dial 1-866-405-BUOY (2869). Give the

following information:

■

Location of sign

■

Damage to sign

■

Name

■

Contact information

Remember to sign up for boating safety

classes at MyFWC.com.

Sirenians of the world

Present day Sirenians are found around the

world and include three species of manatees

and one species of dugong.

West Indian manatee (Trichechus

manatus) – West Indian manatees are found

from the southern United States to the

northeast coast of Brazil and around islands

near these shores. The Florida manatee

(Trichechus manatus latirostris) is a sub-

species of the West Indian manatee and is

found in and around Florida’s waterways.

The Antillean manatee (Trichechus manatus

manatus) is another sub-species that is found

throughout the Caribbean and northeastern

South America.

Amazonian manatee (Trichechus

inunguis) – This species is restricted to the

fresh waters of the Amazon Basin.

West African manatee (Trichechus

senegalensis) – This species is found in the

coastal waters and rivers of western Africa.

Dugong (Dugong dugon) – the dugong

population is restricted to certain regions

of the coastal waters of 43 countries within

the Indian and Paciﬁc oceans. The largest

surviving populations are found in northern

Australian waters.

Extinct species: Steller’s sea cow

(Hydrodamalis gigas) – This species was once

found in the Bering Sea and was hunted to

extinction within 27 years of discovery (1741-

1768).

Activity: Research one of these species and

draw or copy a picture of the animal.

Manatee puppet

Color each of the pieces gray, blue, brown

or a combination of these colors. Cut the

pieces out and glue them to a paper lunch

bag as shown below. Make sure that you

attach the head to the bottom of the bag

so that you can open the manatee’s mouth.

Give your manatee a name and herd

together with your other manatee friends.

Classroom idea:

Use the information in this

book to write a play about manatees. You can make

a different lunch bag character for each character

in your play.

What are the four elements of habitat

that manatees need to survive?

Activity: Fill in the blanks to ﬁnd out the basic elements of habitat.

1. Manatees eat plants that grow in the water. These plants are called aquatic vegetation.

Aquatic vegetation is the best type of f__o__ for manatees to eat.

2. Manatees seek out and drink fresh w__t__ __ found in their environment. Manatees do not

need to rely on people to provide this for them.

3. Manatees are migratory animals. Their travel is inﬂuenced by seasonal changes. Travel

corridors are necessary for manatees to move back and forth between summer and winter

habitats. People who use these same waterway corridors must respect the manatees’ need for

safe passage and provide adequate sp__c__ for manatees to travel.

4. Manatees seek safe, protected areas, or sh__l__ __r where they can feed, rest, play, mate,

give birth or raise their young. In Florida, with the growing number of people and boats, safe

protected areas are more difﬁcult for manatees to ﬁnd.

Loss of habitat is one of the most serious threats to the manatee. Human activities are a

signiﬁcant cause for manatee habitat loss through pollution, dredge and ﬁll activity, water use

and development.

If any of the four elements of habitat – (1)___________, (2)___________, (3)___________ and

(4)_____________ – are missing, manatees cannot survive. It is up to all of us to help Florida’s

manatees survive.

Manatees use high tides to reach

feeding areas and shoreline

vegetation that are not easy to

get to when the tide is low.

Answers:

food, water, space and shelter.

Life jackets help save lives

Always be prepared when you plan a trip on a waterway. Practice preparing for your trip by

dressing the boating safety buddy. Lightly GLUE the page to another piece of paper. CUT out

the life jacket, sunglasses and other items and the boating buddy and place the items on your

buddy by folding the tabs. Help your buddy be better prepared for a trip on the water.

Wear polarized sunglasses so

you can see and avoid objects just below

the surface of the water (such as sea

grass beds, manatees and sea turtles).

Polarized lenses help cut the glare from

the sun on the water and also protect

your eyes.

Wear your life jacket when near shore

or on a boat.

Attach a whistle to your life vest

that has a plastic ball inside since cork balls

do not work well when wet. The whistle is

used to attract a rescuer’s attention and

help direct them to your location.

Put a small mirror in a pocket to use

to ﬂash sunlight signals in an emergency.

Practice water safety rescues with

your parents before an emergency happens.

A life jacket is also called a Personal

Flotation Device or a PFD.

Make sure your

life jacket is Coast Guard approved and ﬁts

well. Most important…remember to

WEAR YOUR LIFE JACKET!

Wear the proper life jacket for your activity

Type 1

– Off-shore life jacket – designed for rough weather – these will keep you aﬂoat for a long time.

Type 2 – Near-shore life jacket – designed for near-shore, calmer waters where rescue time may be shorter.

Type 3 – Sport life jacket – commonly used for watersport activities – not designed for use in rough waters.

Type 4 – Throwable ﬂotation – seat cushion, life ring – this device is not worn and is designed to be thrown to a

person who needs help

wearitorida.com

Manatee word puzzle

Find these words hidden in the puzzle. Words can be read frontward, backward, up, down and

diagonally.

protect, sea cow, manatee, mammal, aquatic plants, sea grass, habitat, eat, play,

rest, travel, air, water, Florida, conservation

Activity: Put the word list in alphabetic order before doing the puzzle.

ARJ GA T CETORPAB

ASTNALPCI T AUQA

HSE SMMOATT E OR A

AAMANATEERI LED

BMGF GI OAEE ARS I

I PLAYRNTNEEVT R

TAUI EMAMMALSEO

AMTROWUSUNMLML

TMREENAMSNFLI F

AANOI T A VRE SNOC

SRL AL CAWOCAES T

____________________

Manatee trivia word match

Activity: Fill in the blank with the word that best ﬁts the sentence.

Words: breathe, eyelids, heart, barrier, warm, relatives, submerged, squeaking,

sideways, female, dependent, gestation

■

Manatees do not have _ _ _ _ _ _ _, eyelashes or eyebrows. A clear nictitating membrane

protects the manatees’ eyes when underwater. The muscles around the eye expand and contract

in a circular motion to open and close around the eye.

■

A manatee’s _ _ _ _ _ beats at a rate of 50 to 60 times per minute.

■

Manatees _ _ _ _ _ _ _ air and must surface to breathe approximately every three to ﬁve

minutes when active (traveling, socializing or eating).

■

When resting, manatees stay _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ for long periods of time between breaths (20

minutes). A manatee can rest for many hours at a time.

■

A manatee cannot turn its head _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ – it must turn its whole body around.

■

A manatee communicates by making _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _, chirping or whistling sounds.

■

The manatee’s closest modern _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ are elephants, aardvarks and hyraxes.

■

The _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (pregnancy) period of the manatee is at least 12, and possibly 13,

months long.

■

Calves may remain _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ on their mothers for up to two years.

■

A mating herd consists of one _ _ _ _ _ and several males that travel together for a week to

a month until the female is ready to mate.

■

Manatees learn about _ _ _ _ water sites from their mothers.

Bonus: Study pictures of manatees and on a separate piece of paper draw a manatee’s eye.

How is it different from your eye? (Hint: see the ﬁrst manatee trivia item above.)

manatees

(Sirenia)

hyrax

(Hyracoidea)

elephant

(Proboscidea)

aardvark

(Tubulidentata)

Closest modern relatives:

Elephant (order Proboscidea) –Very large mammal with

toenails, dense bones, special dentition, long gestation

period, with skin and sparse hair similar to a manatee.

Hyrax (order Hyracoidea) –Size of a rabbit with toenails,

dense bones, special dentition, long gestation period, and a

skull that resembles that of an elephant skull.

Activity: Research the characteristics of the

aardvark and compare the species to manatees,

hyraxes or elephants.