Manatee Awareness
Manatees are large marine mammals that inhabit slow rivers, canals, saltwater bays, estuaries, and coastal areas. They are a migratory species, inhabiting the Florida waters during the winter and moving as far north as Virginia and as far west as Texas in the warmer summer months. Manatees are calm herbivores that spend most of their time eating, sleeping, and traveling. They have a lifespan of about 60 years with no known natural enemies. Most of their deaths are the result of human activity, particularly watercraft collisions. In the past, manatees were exploited for their meat, fat, and hides. However, the most significant challenge manatees face today is the loss of habitat. Manatees were once very widespread, but coastal development and poaching has significantly reduced the size of their population. There are currently around 3,200 manatees living in the United States.
Read more about Manatee Awareness: Sources of Danger, Becoming Endangered Legal Protection, Organizations
Famous quotes containing the word awareness:
“Introspection is self-improvement and therefore introspection is self-centeredness. Awareness is not self-improvement. On the contrary, it is the ending of the self, of the “I,” with all its peculiar idiosyncrasies, memories, demands, and pursuits. In introspection there is identification and condemnation. In awareness there is no condemnation or identification; therefore, there is no self-improvement. There is a vast difference between the two.”
—Jiddu Krishnamurti (b. 1895)