Houseboating Adventures - Issue 18 - (Page 65)

M Manatee Closely related to the elephant, the MANATEE is Florida’s state marine mammal. "Gentle giants," as they are called manatees are herbivorous, feasting daily on vegetation up to as much as 15% of their body weight, which includes very little fat. Averaging 10 feet long and 1,000 lbs., an adult manatee spends 6 to 8 hours eating, and the rest of the day resting or traveling. Manatees are grayish brown in color, oftentimes influenced by the growth of algae on their thick and wrinkled skin. Their bodies resemble the seal's, and their whiskered snouts look like the walrus' without tusks. Forelimb flippers act like arms that allow them to maneuver, to "walk" in shallow water and to bring food to their flexible, grasping lips, while a powerful, flat tail propels their massive bodies across the water. Able to hold their breath for up to 15 minutes while resting, manatees have huge lungs that exchange 98% of their contents in one breath. Their nostrils, located on top of their faces for easy breathing, have tight-fitting flaps that keep the water out when they're submerged. Gushes of strong exhalation at the water surface reveal the manatees' presence. Manatees move slowly, and they are also slow to reproduce. Females mature in 5 to 9 years and give birth to one calf every 2 to 5 years. Young manatees nurse underwater, on teats under the mother's flippers. They live alongside the mother for about 2 years, learning travel routes and survival skills. N Names & Native Americans. The Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon discovered Florida and gave it the NAME Pascua Florida honoring the Easter Festival of Flowers. The official nickname for Florida is Sunshine State and it is on some motor vehicle license plates. It is also called Peninsula State, Orange State, and Alligator State. No other state is nicknamed for a reptile. The two largest groups in Florida are known as Yankees, those who immigrated from the Midwest and Northeast, and Crackers, those born in Georgia or Florida. People who live in Florida during the winter and return north during the summer are called Snowbirds. Pascua Florida Thousands of years ago NATIVE AMERICANS lived in Florida. They are called Paleo Indians, and several Paleo Indian sites are scattered around the state. Several centuries after Ponce de Leon arrived, most of the native people were gone. A new group of Indians began to arrive early in the 18th century. Florida has two federally recognized tribes - The Seminole and The Miccosukee. They both live on reservations in South Florida. There are also several non-recognized tribes in the state. )6B@" A05("%C&5AB9&@

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Houseboating Adventures - Issue 18

Houseboating Adventures - Issue 18 Editor's Desk Desert Ritual River Dream Boatel 2007 Top Houseboating Accessories 2007 Impact Design of the Year 2007 Comeback Company of the Year Florida A-Z The Perfect Florida Houseboat Under Thirty Feet? Adventure Guide

Houseboating Adventures - Issue 18

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.