Manatees: Not the mermaids we wanted, but the ones we needed.
Today is Manatee Appreciation Day! Once mistaken for mythical creatures, manatees are marine mammals part of a small group known as "Sirenia,” a name which comes from the Sirens of ancient Greek mythology. Spending most of their time traveling, resting, or eating seagrass, manatees help maintain healthy marine ecosystems by keeping aquatic vegetation in check. This is why they’re sometimes dubbed the “lawn mowers of the sea.”
Unfortunately, all three extant manatee species are vulnerable to extinction—and these graceful sea critters require additional protection from major threats like habitat destruction and collisions with boats and ships.
Photo: David Hinkel, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
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Florida Manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris), family Trichechidae, in a freshwater hot spring in Florida, USA.
ENDANGERED.
photograph by Keith Ramos, USFWS
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Didn’t think you’d ever see a manatee that has been combined with a mangrove did you?
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I don't know what I was expecting when I looked up manatee anatomy the other day, but it was not that manatees have like. . . Fully-fledged hand bones.
(They're incapable of individual finger movement but still, according to someone on Reddit that had a male manatee fall in love with her, THEY HAVE A VERY STRONG GRIP.)
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manatee practice + Niko birthday drawing (I KNOW IT WAS 2 DAYS AGO, JUST CROSSPOSTING FROM TWT)
so round... far superior to drawing yucky humans
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They look like giant puppies<3
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2023 Ocean Conservation Photographer of the Year
"I went to Florida with one dream: to capture beautiful images of manatees." -Sophie Ayer
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Results from the #paleostream Meganthropus (a new #MonkeyCruise piece), Anachlysictis and Demandosaurus
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Happy Attenborough day!! Sir David is 97 (!!!) years old today!
It's hard to choose which moment from his long career to depict, there is such an abundance of incredible and moving ones. This year, I drew him chilling with some manatees
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Lawn flamingo manatee, because I saw a ton of lawn flamingos while in Florida…
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