Manatees, also known as sea cows, are large, gray-brown aquatic mammals found in the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean and African coasts.  These animals have rounded bodies that taper to a flat, paddle-shaped tail and small heads.  Manatee heads are wrinkly and include a straight snout with bristly hairs on their upper lips.  On the manatee's snout are nostrils that are closed tightly by valves when the manatee goes under water.  When a manatee sleeps, it sleeps with its nostrils poking out above the water. 

   The manatee's eyes are tiny for a large animal, but they have excellent close vision.  Manatees can also hear very well even though there are no visual signs of ears to be found on their body.  There is a tiny hole just behind its eyes that is an organ for hearing. 

     Manatees have little hair, which is very thin and widely spaced, except around the mouth.  A manatee's mouth has stiff brush-like hair and is equipped with large, muscular mouth flaps.  These mouth flaps are useful for collecting algae and grass as the manatee forages for food.

    Manatees are slow, graceful swimmers who often use their flippers for steering and grasping plants on which it feeds.  These two flippers have three to four nails on them that help the animals grasp and dig uprooted aquatic plants.  Manatees are primarily vegetarians.  A manatee can grow anywhere between 8 to 14 feet long and weigh 440 to 1300 pounds. Manatees live for about 60 years.

    Manatees live in small herds of about 15 to 20.  In these herds, manatees graze for food around 6 to 8 hours a day and consume 10 to 15 percent their body weight in food.  Manatees scavenge for food at the water's surface and along the bottoms.  While scavenging for food, they must come to the surface to breathe.