Types

• As their name implies, Florida manatees mainly live in Florida and southern Georgia. Florida manatees, also known as West Indian manatees, are one of three species of the mammal, the others being Amazonian and African. Scientists have also discovered the dwarf manatee, which may be a sub-classification of the Amazonian. The maritime herbivores are notoriously slow, which earned them the nickname sea cow. They can live up to 60 years, feeding mostly on sea grass and other aquatic vegetation.
  
  

Threats

• Manatees have few natural predators, but a combination of other natural and human threats has pushed them into endangerment. One of the biggest threats they face, partially because of their slow pace, is collisions with boats and other water crafts. People in the Caribbean also hunt the mammals for their meat. Manatees are also losing their warm water habitats, which humans are taking over and polluting. Nature's biggest threats to the mammal are cold temperatures, hurricanes and red tides, which are large blooms of toxic red algae.
  
  

Laws

• Florida began legally protecting its manatees as early as 1893 when it passed its first protection law. The state currently protects the marine mammals under the Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act. At the federal level, manatees fall under the protection of the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act.
  
  

Activism

• Dozens of groups dedicate themselves, in part or in full, to protecting manatees, from national groups, like the Wildlife Trust and American Society of Mammalogists, to ones working on local levels, like the Lee County Manatee Park in Florida. Many groups call for members and activists to write to elected officials and ask them to pass stricter laws protecting the animals. Others, such as the Save the Manatee Club, have sought legal action. In 2000, the organization, along with 18 others, filed two civil lawsuits demanding the government more strictly enforce protection laws.
  
  

Recovery

• Government agencies and conservation groups aren't able to count manatees, but progress is being made, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Florida has begun implementing speed zones in its waterways to prevent water crafts from colliding with the animals. Zoos, aquariums and other maritime facilities are also rescuing sick or injured manatees, helping them recover then reintroducing them to the wild. Government and private organizations continue working to restore the manatees' natural, warm-water habitats.