Manatee Behavior

Manatees are gentle, solitary and slow-moving animals. They spend most of their time eating, resting and traveling. Manatees are herbivorous creatures. They eat aquatic vegetation and have no incisor or canine teeth, only "marching molars". Manatees must rise to the surface to take a breath. This happens every 3 to 5 minutes, but when resting, it happens only every 20 minutes. Manatees communicate via chirps, whistles and squeaks.