🌊 MANATEE Appreciation Day 2025 – Mar 26

MANATEE Appreciation Day ORIGIN & HISTORY

Organizations aim to protect vulnerable manatees and their aquatic habitat for future generations to share. For this reason, we celebrate these odd-looking gentle beasts and raise awareness about them on MANATEE Appreciation Day on the Last Wednesday in March.

The manatee is a large marine mammal with a head shaped like an egg, flippers, and a wide flat tail. Manatees are also known as sea cows which sorta fits because of how large and cow-like they are, not to mention their slow, lollygagging nature.

However, despite this, they are closely related to the elephant. And if their appearance suggests being cumbersome, they are quite the opposite. They can swim very quickly and are most graceful in the water.

Manatees are herbivores which means they eat algae. Algae will typically grow on their skin as well. They also love seagrasses when at sea, but prefer freshwater vegetation when settling to inland rivers.

Scientists think manatees evolved from four-legged land mammals more than 60 million years ago. Even the Amazonian manatee has paddle-like flippers with vestigial toenails. What this means is they no longer have a use for them – a remnant of the claws they had when they lived on land. The Amazon species name inunguis is Latin meaning “without nails”.

Manatees range in size from 8 to 13 feet (2.4 to 4 meters) and can weigh anywhere from 440 to 1300 lbs (200 to 590 kg). Manatees usually swim about 5 mph (8 km/h), but they can swim up to 15 mph (24 km/h) in short bursts when they feel the need … the need for speed.

Where MANATEES Live

Typically, manatees stay in the rivers, seas, and oceans along the coast of many countries. There are three species of manatee:

1. The Amazon manatee trichechus inunguis lives in the drainage of the Amazon River from Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador to the mouth of the Amazon all the way in Brazil.
2. The African manatee trichechus senegalensis lives along the coast and in the rivers of Western Africa.
3. The West Indian or American manatee trichechus manatus lives in the Southern and Eastern United States, although a few can be found near Puerto Rico and even the Bahamas.

Their range is estimated to be around 2.7 million square mi (7 million square km), according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

While manatees live in saltwater, they prefer freshwater for drinking all the while staying in warm climates because they lack blubber to keep them warm.

MANATEES’ Survival

Manatees don’t have any natural predators except maybe humans accidentally. However, like many of the most remarkable and magnificent animals on our planet, these fascinating animals are threatened. Some in Africa are downright endangered with fewer than 10,000 left.

In the waters around West Africa, they’re still being poached for their hide and meat, despite being illegal to hunt manatees.

Even when they’re not being targeted, many around the Amazon basin and Western Africa often get caught in fishermen trawlers’ nets. Waterfront real estate development will impact their survival through loss of habitat and make them susceptible to collisions with speedboats who probably don’t know they’re present which is just sad.

And to top it all off, who likes swimming through toxic red tide?

HOW to Celebrate & Observe MANATEE Appreciation Day?

Not sure how to LOVE the day? We’ve got a few interesting ideas to consider that may help get you started.

Here are some activities that you can do on MANATEE Appreciation Day!

💙 RESEARCH sea cows

Do some research on manatees. You can visit the Save the Manatee Club to learn more about manatees. Manatees are vulnerable and they need our protection. Visiting this manatee organization is one major step in playing an active role in helping these beautiful and sweet animals. The USGS Sirenia Project even conducts long-term and thorough studies of the West Indian manatee.

💙 VISIT with the Manatees

Only use manatee-friendly eco tours when visiting these majestic animals. Become part of the Manatee Sighting Network. Be a part of the awareness for manatees. And if you’re coming to Florida, why not fly Frontier Airlines. Why? Because they’re the only airline that has a MANATEE on two of their planes – Crystal & Hugh!

If going it on your own, make sure to consult organizations like the Florida Manatee Program which can give you a boater’s guide on where to see manatees and how to avoid collisions.

💙 DONATE money or time

Give funds to manatee conservation programs. Anytime you’re within a waterway and spot one, you can then contact savethemanatee.org to help researchers track them. They’re always looking for volunteers to help and there are many ways you can take initiative in helping with manatee survival. You can even “adopt” a real manatee that helps to fund their continued conservation.

💙 RAISE Social Awareness

Use social media posts with the hashtags #ManateeAppreciationDay, #Manatees, #SeaCow, #AnimalHolidays, #MarchHolidays, #Holiday, #FindADayToLOVE, #iHEARTdays to support the importance of celebrating, promoting, and sharing with the world why you ❤️ MANATEE Appreciation Day.

LEARN more about the awesomeness of MANATEES

AWESOME SEA COWS!

GENTLE GIANTS

ELEVEN Fun Facts you never knew about MANATEE Appreciation Day

1. Manatees are very gentle and slow-moving aquatic creatures. They spend the majority of their time eating, resting, and swimming.
2. A manatee can eat a tenth of its own weight within 24 hrs – which can be up to 130 lbs (59 kg) just to maintain its bloated beanbag figure.
3. Manatees are strong swimmers by moving their tails up and down to propel themselves forward. They can reach speeds of 15 mph in short bursts.
4. The name manatee comes from the Taíno (indigenous people of the Caribbean) word manatí, meaning “breast”.
5. Manatees can swim alone or in pairs. Since they’re not territorial, they don’t need to have a leader. A group of manatees is called an aggregation which never is more than six – often only groups of bulls known as mating herds.
6. Manatees usually live about 40 years and never ever go on land.
7. Throughout a manatee’s life, its only teeth (called marching molars) are constantly being replaced due to a diet of abrasive vegetation in the sand.
   

   Let’s Talk About Their APPEARANCE

8. Their eyes are small but their eyesight is great including having a special membrane that covers the eyeball as hippos do! And just because they don’t have outer ears doesn’t mean they can’t hear. Large inner ear bones make for excellent hearing.
9. The Dugong and the Manatee are cousins which are found in the Indian and Pacific oceans. Only they have a notch in their tails and tusks.
10. Unlike most mammals, the manatees only have six vertebrae in their neck. If they had seven like say a giraffe, then they could turn their head sideways instead of maneuvering the entire body just to look behind them.
11. Although they look leathery and smooth at the same time, manatees are covered in a whisker-like hair called vibrissae. In fact, they have 3000 of these hairs on their body with another 2000 on their face. Vibrissae hairs help regulate body temperature.

Famous PEOPLE also born around the Last Wednesday in March

• Vincent Van Gogh

  Dutch post-impressionist painter responsible for 2100 pieces of art including 860 oil paintings and best known for painting “Starry Night” while visiting France. Van Gogh thought nighttime was much more active and colorful than the day. He would line his hat with candles so he could see what he was painting. Born 1853.

  VINCENT VAN GOGH Quote

  “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.”

• Secretariat

  American Triple Crown Thoroughbred champion also known as “Big Red” is considered to be the greatest racehorse of all time and holds the fastest record for the Kentucky Derby. Born 1970.

  SECRETARIAT Quote

  Neigh – Whinny – Ahhhhiiiiiihhhhahaahha … bruhhhh!

• Eric Clapton

  British singer-songwriter widely considered one of the greatest guitarists of all time. Best known for songs like “Layla” and “Tears in Heaven”. His nickname is “Slowhand”. Born 1945.

  ERIC CLAPTON Quote

  “One of the most beneficial things I’ve ever learned is how to keep my mouth shut.”

Future DATES for MANATEE Appreciation Day

Manatees FAQ

Are Manatees LAZY?

• Manatees swim and poke their nose up to catch a few breaths every few minutes. But they don’t always need to breathe and can stay underwater for 15 minutes without taking a breath while resting. In fact, they spend half the day at rest or asleep.

Why are Manatees so FAT?

• Their digestive tract (stomach & intestines) makes up a large body percentage. And this results in their uniquely round appearance since they consume large quantities of vegetation as aquatic herbivores.

Are Manatees SMART?

• Although manatees do have one of the tiniest brains, they’re usually quite intelligent like dolphins and can perform many tasks as such.

Why we L💜VE MANATEE Appreciation Day

It brings a spotlight to these lovable creatures. They are surprisingly playful and agile. Manatees love to amuse themselves and others by rolling over upside down as if they weigh nothing at all! So CUTE.

1. Conveys AWARENESS

   MANATEE Appreciation Day is a great time to bring understanding & awareness among the public about these seemingly peculiar creatures. Even though manatees are endangered, they continue to be killed by poachers for their meat and hides. And perhaps more of you will take notice when operating boat craft around known manatee habitats.

2. Too COOL for School

   If you didn’t already mistake a manatee for a mermaid, kind of like the early seafaring men who first arrived in the Americas did, judging by their “hands” and “tail”. Then leave iHEARTdays knowing that manatees are devoted mothers who are pregnant for an entire year and remain years later caring for, nurturing, and protecting their baby calves who are born underwater. The mother even helps the baby manatee reach the surface for air and in its first hour can already swim on its own. Bravo. 👋

Save The Manatees