Q. What do the manatees eat?
A. Manatees are herbivores (plant-eaters), feeding on a large variety of submerged, emergent, and floating plants. Seagrass beds and freshwater submerged aquatic vegetation are important feeding sites for manatees. Listed below are some main types of marine and freshwater vegetation in Florida that they prefer to eat:

Marine Vegetation
Syringodium filiforme/Manatee grass
Thalassia testudinum/Turtle grass
Halodule wrightii/Shoal grass
Ruppia maritima/Widgeon grass

Freshwater Vegetation
Hydrilla verticillata/Hydrilla*
Vallisneria neotropicalis/Tapegrass, Eelgrass
Eichhornia crassipes/Water hyacinth
Pistia stratiotes/Water lettuce
*Non-native, or exotic, vegetation

Q. Do manatees ever eat plankton or small fish?
A. Although manatees are herbivores, sometimes sea squirts, mollusks or any of several species of zooplankton can be inadvertenly eaten while the manatee feeds on seagrasses.

Q. How much does a manatee eat in one day?
A. It is estimated that a manatee can eat about 10-15% of their body weight in vegetation daily. So, for example, a 453-kilogram (1,000-pound) manatee would probably eat between 45-68 kilograms (100-150 pounds) of food a day!

Q. Where are manatees found in the food chain?
A. Manatees are primary feeders (plant-eaters). They feed directly off of plants. They are comparable to ungulates like deer or cattle who are browsing or grazing animals. Unlike their land counterparts however, manatees have no natural predators.

Q. If manatees are herbivores, why do they weigh so much?
A. Although manatees look fat, they actually have very little body fat for an aquatic mammal. Remember, they are a tropical species and have no need for body fat to keep them warm. A large percentage of the manatee’s body is taken up by the gut tract which contains the stomach and intestines etc. Researchers believe that the manatee's large size probably evolved as a result of being aquatic and having a herbivorous (plant-eating) diet. The plants manatees eat have a low nutritional value, so they make up for that by eating large quantities of them.