The calf can swim and surface on its own the same day it is born. The calf begins eating plants when it's two months old. The baby will continue to nurse and doesn't leave its mother until it's two years old. This means an adult manatee can eat up to 300 pounds of food a day. Manatees live in shallow coastal waters, bays, estuaries, lagoons and rivers in the Southeastern part of the United States.
Manatees mostly live alone.
The only lasting relationships are the ones between mothers and their babies. Manatees may live for 50 years. Manatees are found along the southeastern coast of the United States, the Caribbean Sea and along the northeastern coast of South America. The estimated population of manatees is between 1,200 and 1,500. Manatees are slate gray to brownish in color with slightly wrinkled skin.