The gentle, slow-moving Florida manatee has no natural predators. And yet, these charismatic mammals face numerous threats. Manatees are struck by vessels in busy waterways across the state, and a ...

Seagrasses and other aquatic plants make up most of a manatee's diet. Manatees spend about eight hours each day grazing and uprooting plants. They eat up to 15% of their weight in food each day.

♪ NARRATOR: The hydrilla depleted oxygen levels in the water and out-competed the native eelgrass, a staple of the manatees' diet. ♪ Then in the '90s, things got a whole lot worse.

The front molars eventually fall out as they’re worn down from a manatee’s diet (typically plants that often hold sand). Manatees used to live on land, according to the FWC.

Manatee deaths in Florida have declined in 2022, but wildlife officials warn that starvation is still a serious threat while pollution kills seagrass - a staple in their herbivore diet.

So far this year, 734 manatees have died. This year will be a repeat. Manatee advocates applauded the decision a year ago to supplement manatee's diet in the Indian River Lagoon as a shortage of ...

The front molars eventually fall out as they’re worn down from a manatee’s diet (typically plants that often hold sand). Manatees used to live on land, according to the FWC.

Deep in silence, as if under a spell, children watch intently as Bacuri, a young Amazonian manatee, glides around a small plastic pool. When he surfaces for air, some of them exchange wide smiles.

Manatees typically eat 50 to 100 pounds of seagrass per day. Joe Raedle/Getty Images A shift in manatees’ diet. In our study, we examined 193 manatee stomach samples collected from carcasses recovered ...