CLASSIFICATION

The Florida Manatee, also known as a “sea cow” or “American manatee”, is a subspecies of the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus).

HABITAT

Florida Manatees are found in coastal areas of southern Florida year-round in both the Gulf and Atlantic coasts. Manatees summer habitat expands greatly as the water temperature increases. They can be found further north up the gulf coast as far north as Lousiana and up the Atlantic coast as far north as the Chesapeake Bay.

Although not part of the Florida manatees habitat, sea cows have been spotted as far north as Cape Cod, Massachusetts. One specific manatee, “Ilya”, that was spotted of Cape Cod’s coast and later rescued from the coastal waters of New Jersey and returned to Florida, later, unfortunately, died after a boat strike in the Florida Keys. “Ilya” may be the greatest example of the potential distance manatees may travel. Calculating this manatee’s migratory travel sea-distances.org shows “Ilya” may have swum 1343 nautical miles, which at an average speed of 1 knot would take a manatee 5 days 23 hours without considering time for the manatee to rest.