Orphans are rare among manatees. It is quite common for mature female manatees to adopt orphaned calves and nurse them as their own. This manatee is about 2 years old. Average mature manatees are 10 feet long and weigh in the neighborhood of 1,200 pounds. The lifespan of a manatee is thought to be greater than 50 years.
Manatees face many challenges to survive in the wild.
They are slow-moving and are frequently hit by boats. Many animals are positively identified every year by their tell-tale boat propeller scars. If this isn t bad enough, approximately 130 manatees die each year in Florida from collision with boats and laceration by the deadly propellers. Here we have a manatee rib. Manatees don't make their bone marrow in their ribs, they make it in their backbones, so these ribs are really heavy.