Q. How many manatees are there and how are they counted?
A. For years now, researchers have believed that the manatee population was somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 animals. The last aerial survey of the Florida manatee population was done in February 2004. The survey showed a population count of 2,568 manatees. A synoptic survey is a statewide aerial survey designed to get a head count of individual manatees. The success of synoptic surveys is very dependent on weather conditions. If the weather is cold and clear, then manatees are gathered around warm water sites, making it easier to get a "nose" count. Synoptic surveys are not the most reliable way to determine overall manatee population because so much depends on weather conditions, but they are the only available method at present.

Q. How many manatees are left in the world?
A. Outside of Florida, little is known about the population of West Indian manatees or other sirenians in the world. By far, the largest population of West Indian manatees is found in the U.S. (Florida). Elsewhere, they are found in small population pockets throughout their range. All sirenian species in the world are considered endangered.

Q. Is the manatee population increasing?
A. Many researchers agree that in two areas in the state Florida the manatee population is growing, through both reproduction and migration of manatees from other areas of the state. These two areas, Blue Spring in Volusia County (known by researchers as the Upper St. Johns River) and Crystal River/Kings Bay in Citrus County (known as the northwest region), have been protected areas for over 30 years and are relatively rural areas with less boat traffic. Blue Spring is a no-entry zone (refuge) and several no-entry zones (sanctuaries) have been established in Kings Bay. Both sites also have substantial slow speed zones in surrounding waterways. It is believed that, because of these factors, these two sub-populations have increased. It is important to note, however, that these two groups combined comprise only about 16% of Florida’s total manatee population.

No one yet knows the status of the two remaining manatee regional sub-populations. The data available from these regions is not sufficient to make a statistically reliable estimate of the population trend. The East Coast and Southwest manatee populations may be stable at best or may be declining. This is important because these two regional sub-populations make up the remaining 84% (the vast majority) of the manatee population in Florida.

In 2003, a population model was released by the U.S. Geological Survey that predicted an extremely grave situation confronting the manatee in both the Southwest and Atlantic regions where the vast majority of manatees are found. It states, “In the absence of any new management action, that is, if boat mortality rates continue to increase at the rates observed since 1992, the situation in the Atlantic and Southwest regions is dire, with no chance of meeting recovery criteria within 100 years.”

Q. Has the manatee population grown since the 1950s and 1960s?
A. No one knows how many manatees there were in the 50s and 60s because there was little or no research being done. There could have been 10,000 manatees in Florida at that time or 500. Scientific, methodical research to determine the minimum population statewide began in earnest in the early 1990s when the first synoptic aerial surveys were conducted. Each synoptic survey results in a minimum population number. However, because of extreme variability between surveys due largely to weather conditions, this does not yield a statistical estimate of the population and cannot be used for population trend analysis.

Q. In terms of evolution, how long have manatees been around?
A. Actual manatee fossils found all over the world go back as far as 60 million years. Modern manatees evolved from four-footed land mammals. Manatee fossils found in Florida’s springs date back about 45 million years.

Q. How do manatees produce calves?
A. Manatees do not form permanent pair bonds like some animal species. During breeding, a single female, or cow, is usually followed by a group of a dozen or more males, or bulls, forming a mating herd. They appear to breed indiscriminately during this time. Although breeding and birth may occur at any time during the year, there appears to be a broad spring-summer calving peak.


Q. How often do manatees have calves?
A. The reproductive rate for manatees is low. Female manatees are not sexually mature until about five years of age. Males are mature at approximately nine years of age, although some males mature earlier. Intervals between births range from two to five years. However, a two-year interval may occur when a cow loses a calf soon after birth. .


Q. What is the manatee's gestation period?
A. The gestation period is about one year.

Q. How much do manatee calves weigh when they are born? Do they stay with their families for a long time?
A. Manatee calves are about one meter (between 3-4 feet long) and weigh between 37-31 kilograms (60-70 pounds) at birth. Mother manatees nurse their young for a long period, and a calf may remain dependent on its mother for up to two years. The female manatee assumes total responsibility for raising the calf. The calf nurses from nipples located behind the mother's flippers and begins to eat plants a few weeks after birth.

Q. How soon can manatee calves swim after they are born?
A. Newborn manatee calves are capable of swimming to the surface on their own and vocalize at or soon after birth.