They're innately gentle creatures.
Although they've been observed as far north as Cape Cod, they can't survive in water that's below 60 degrees fahrenheit — and they prefer it above 72.
They have no natural predators, save for humans' penchant for awfulness.
And March 28th was the day we all got a pass to stare at adorable manatee photos.
Happy Manatee Appreciation Day!
To mark the occasion, U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist (D-St. Petersburg) sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke urging him to reverse the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's 2017 decision to downgrade the protection status for manatees from "endangered" to "threatened."
The move makes manatees more vulnerable to habitat loss and boat strikes — not fitting for a marine mammal so emblematic of Florida, one that brings countless tourists to our shores and springs Crist said.
"The manatee has become synonymous with Florida’s waters," the letter continues. "It was designated the state’s marine mammal in 1975 and contributes to Florida’s $5 billion wildlife viewing industry. The manatee is iconic in my home state, but they face a number of threats to their existence, including watercraft collisions and loss of habitat. Without the proper protections, I fear this gentle giant will not be around for future generations to enjoy and admire."
Last year, Republicans and Democrats from Florida's congressional delegation, Crist included, signed a letter urging Zinke to maintain endangered status for manatees, to no avail.
In Wednesday's letter, Crist cited a recent spike in manatee deaths as further evidence that the protections need to be restored. So far in 2018, there have been 201 recorded manatee deaths, which is up from 138 over the same period in 2017. Cold stress, though the most common cause of death for manatees, was far from the only one; human-related incidents constituted 34 manatee deaths so far in 2018 (up from 18 over the same period in 2017). Dozens more manatee deaths occurred due to undetermined causes.
"It is clear to me that these numbers are moving in the wrong direction and therefore warrant urgent review by FWS," Crist wrote. "For this reason, I respectfully request that FWS reconsider and reverse its decision to downgrade protections for the Florida manatee."
This article appears in Mar 22-29, 2018.