Manatees, aka the sea cow, have been recently described to me as the "happiest sea animal". I think dolphins and seals would dispute that non-fact, but I digress. Manatees are apparently evolved from four legged land animals about 60 million (give or take), and their closest living relatives are elephants (WHAT?) and hyraxes (WHO? WHAT????). They are also quite gigantic, weighing upwards of 900 lbs and being 9 - 10 feet long. Manatees prefer warm water, and their bodies can't handle cold water. Oddly, they like to hang out around power plants (which warm the water) unlike every other animal (I'm just guessing...I don't swim near power plants to avoid weird mutations so I don't know what kinds of animals live near them).
I think this is pretty well known, but manatees are believed to be the reason mermaid legends exist. If you look at the above picture, you can see why manatees are easily confused for hot half scaly fish ladies. Although, many months at sea probably warps the mind a bit anyway (this is EXACTLY why I am not a pirate).
They do look like they're smiling though, don't they?
1 comment:
Look! They are even holding hands in the picture!
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