Most of you are probably wondering, ???What the heck is a manatee???? A manatee
is sorta like an elephant, except it has two huge paddle-like fins and a rounded
flat tail instead of four legs and a thin tail. They are grey or a light
sky-blue color. They live in warm bodies of water in the Gulf of Mexico, the
Amazon, and around Florida.
When Christopher Columbus sailed to America, he thought he saw a mermaid.
Many people believed him. What he really saw was a manatee!
When more people came to America, the manatee was hunted for blubber and
oils. The manatee came very close to extinction. But people realized this and
made it illegal to hunt manatees.
You might wonder why I'm telling you this. This may not even matter to you,
but keep on reading. Last year, I was boating with my dad. He has a canoe and
likes to use its motor. Well, one day, the motor flipped inside the boat and hit
the on button. The propeller flew onto my arm and made huge cuts. I still have
the scars. This kind of thing happens to manatees all the time. They are curious
of the noisy whirls of motors and swim up to boats. The boat zooms over them,
leaving huge cuts on their backs.
It's not too late to help the manatees. You can prevent their sadness and
pain by using air propeller boats. They still can go as fast as you want them
to, but when you're near a Manatee Zone, they can't hurt the manatees.
Manatees are very close to extinction still. You can also adopt a manatee at
different websites. It costs money, but it goes toward the manatee's food,
medical assistance, and release.
Thanks for reading,
Kutie11
Editor???s Note: My sister has worked with manatees and other endangered
animals in Florida, like the Florida panther. They???re amazing creatures! Not the
most exciting, necessarily, but they do make you realize what an incredible
world we live in, that something so unusual could develop and survive on its
own. Thanks for writing, Kutie11!
