Subject: Re: manatees
Nancy Sadusky (education@savethemanatee.org)
Mon, 5 Oct 1998 00:08:39 +0000
Dear John,
Thanks so much for your question:
Do manatees eat as much as whales?
Manatees are herbivores (plant-eaters), feeding on a large variety of
submerged, emergent, and floating plants. Seagrass beds are important
feeding sites for manatees. Some favorite foods of manatees include:
Marine vegetation: Manatee grass, turtle grass, shoal grass, widgeon
grass. Freshwater vegetation: Hydrilla, eelgrass, water hyacinth, and
water lettuce. I'm not sure how much whales eat, but it is
estimated that manatees can eat about 10-15% of their body weight in
vegetation daily. So a 1,000 pound manatee would eat between 100-150
pounds of food a day!
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Communications Director
Save the Manatee Club
500 N. Maitland Ave.
Maitland, FL 32751
(407) 539-0990
e-mail: nsadusky@savethemanatee.org
http://www.savethemanatee.org
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