Manatees are herbivores and eat marine and freshwater plants. Well known for their gentle, slow-moving nature, manatees have also been known to body surf or barrel roll when playing. Normally they rest and feed often. Manatees communicate by squealing under water to demonstrate fear, stress or excitement. After a one-year gestation period, calves are born weighing between 60 and 70 pounds and measuring about three to four feet.
Most manatees have a pattern of scars on their backs or tails from collisions with boats.
Scientists use these patterns to identify individuals. But these collisions can be fatal for the manatee. Besides boating accidents, manatees have been found crushed or drowned in flood-control gates and also suffer from pollution and habitat loss. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, an international treaty with more than 144 member countries. Appendix I listed species cannot be traded commercially.