Here is Mote's live Manatee Cam! Presentations take place at 1:15 p.m. daily. Read about our resident manatees, Hugh & Buffett, below, and check out our other webcams, virtual events and social media at: mote.org/virtual

Adopt a manatee!

Your symbolic adoption directly benefits Mote Aquarium and the animals inside.

Funding for Mote's Manatee Cam is made possible by the Seattle Aquarium Youth Ocean Advocates and the Community Foundation of Sarasota County.



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Our manatees, Hugh & Buffett, are two of the most charismatic residents in the Aquarium. You can find them munching on their lunches around noon daily—they eat 72 to 84 heads of romaine lettuce each day! Originally born at the Miami Seaquarium, Hugh and Buffett came to Mote in 1996. As animal ambassadors, these half brothers introduce thousands of visitors to manatees each year and help spread the word about how you can protect endangered manatees in the wild.

But their role at Mote goes beyond being good ambassadors for their species. Hugh and Buffett are the only manatees in the world trained to participate in special manatee research projects designed to help us understand how manatees perceive their natural environment. We've studied everything from their eyesight, hearing, physiology and body temperature to the tiny hairs, called vibrissae, that cover their bodies. Understanding how manatees navigate and experience their world is allowing resource managers to better understand them and protect this endangered species in the wild.