The West Indian manatee is a large herbivorous (plant-eating) marine mammal. There are two subspecies of West Indian manatees: the Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) and the Antillean manatee (Trichechus manatus manatus).
As its name suggests, the Florida manatee is native to Florida and is found primarily in coastal areas throughout the state. Manatees are cold-intolerant so their distribution in the US varies significantly between the warmer and colder months of the year. During the warmer months, the Florida manatee’s range may extend west to Texas and north to Delaware Bay and potentially beyond. As water temperatures decrease in the fall, manatees return to peninsular Florida and their warm water sites. Antillean manatee is found along the Mexican Gulf of Mexico coastline, down through Central America, and continuing to Brazil’s northeastern Atlantic coastline, as well as in the Caribbean Greater Antilles.
Today, the range-wide population estimate for the West Indian manatee is at least 13,000 manatees. When aerial surveys began in 1991, the minimum population estimate in Florida was 1,267 manatees. Today and with the use of more robust survey methodology, at least 8,350 are estimated to inhabit Florida, representing a significant increase over the past 33 years. However, the best available information for the Antillean manatee indicates abundance is declining in most of the Antillean subspecies' range. A rough estimate indicates there are less than 7,000 Antillean manatees in the wild.
The health and survival of the West Indian manatee is threatened by human-related impacts such as collisions with watercraft, habitat loss (both the loss of forage and warm water), entanglements in fishing gear and other marine debris, entrapments due to high water events, crushing in navigation locks or other water control structures, as well as natural events such as cold snaps and red tide.
Manatees are federally protected under the Endangered Species Act and under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
