The typical Florida manatee habitat includes rivers, bays, canals, estuaries and coastal areas moving freely between fresh, saline and brackish waters.
Article Courtesy of: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Florida estuaries and freshwater lakes are a favorite Florida manatee habitat.
Springs and rivers provide extensive beds of seagrass and abundant freshwater aquatic vegetation that provide the manatee’s primary food sources. Just as important is warm water habitat. Manatees cannot tolerate prolonged exposure to very cold water (below 68º F), and in the winter will migrate to areas of warm water for survival. To help sustain a healthy population of manatees in Florida, FWC, along with other partners and stakeholders, work together to manage the protection of Florida’s seagrass and warm water habitat resources.
Manatees are herbivores and feed on a variety of submerged, emergent and floating plants. These plants not only provide food to Florida’s manatees, but are also an important component of marine and freshwater ecosystems.
Freshwater Aquatic Vegetation:
Hundreds of plant species inhabit Florida’s freshwater environments, providing an important food source for manatees. Some common freshwater plants manatees are known to eat include Eelgrass and Coontail along with exotic species like Water hyacinth and Hydrilla.
Seagrasses:
Seagrasses are underwater flowering plants that live in Florida’s protected bays, lagoons, and other shallow coastal waters. Because seagrass requires sunlight, most seagrass is found in clear shallow waters. These grass-like plants form small patchy beds that develop into large continuous beds known as seagrass meadows. Manatees are known to consume all species of seagrass found in Florida, including Manatee grass, Turtle grass, Shoal grass, and others.
Importance of Aquatic Vegetation:
- Provide food and habitat for fish and wildlife
- Increase water clarity
- Stabilize sediments and shorelines
- Affect nutrient cycles
- Support local economies
Reduced water quality threatens aquatic vegetation due to:
- Dredging of waterways
- Removal of shoreline vegetation and construction of seawalls
- Excessive nutrient run-off from land (leading cause of phytoplankton blooms)
- Shading from docks
- Increased sediments from shoreline and off-shore construction
Aquatic Vegetation Protection Efforts:
Seagrasses and freshwater aquatic vegetation grow throughout Florida’s waterbodies and are vital to the state’s economy due to the fishing and tourism industries that rely on the fish and wildlife that are dependent on this habitat for survival. Conservation and protection of aquatic vegetation involves many citizens, stakeholders and partners from government and industry.
How you can help the Florida Manatee Habitat:
- Practice smart boating by avoiding navigation through shallow grass beds.
- Avoid contributing to the problem of changing water chemistry through run-off, be careful when applying fertilizers and pesticides. Rain can wash excess chemicals into rivers or other water bodies which drain into the sea.
- Use grating rather than planks when building or repairing a dock. Grating allows sunlight to penetrate to grasses living below docks.
Warm Water Refuges:
Manatees seek out warm water areas whenever the water temperature drops below about 68º F. Warm water refuges in Florida can come from natural sources, such as freshwater or Sulphur springs, or artificial warm water from power plant/energy center outfalls. The water temperature in these refuges must be consistent and reliable in order for manatees to seek out and reuse these sites on an annual basis.
