The Florida manatee, Florida’s state marine mammal, is a large aquatic relative of the elephant.

Manatees are grayish brown in color and have thick, wrinkled skin on which there is often a growth of algae. Their front flippers help them steer, or sometimes crawl, through shallow water. They also have powerful, flat tails that help propel them through the water.

Like other grazing animals, Florida manatees play an important role in influencing plant growth in the shallow rivers, bays, estuaries, canals and coastal waters they call home. Historically, manatees in Florida relied on natural springs to stay warm during cold weather.

Florida has the largest concentration of natural artesian springs in the world; unfortunately, many springs have been altered, degraded and even lost completely due to groundwater pumping for urban and agricultural development, drowned under reservoirs, or blocked by dams. At the same time, we’ve built electric power plants and other structures that produce artificial sources of warm water, and many manatees (over 60% of the population) have learned to rely on these outflows to provide warm water habitat. Whether natural or man-made, manatees depend on warm waters to spend the coldest days of winter.