WEBVTT 00:00:02.286 --> 00:00:08.601 Coming up on the Children's Hour, we're going to learn all about manatees in a visit with 00:00:08.601 --> 00:00:15.556 Andrea Herman from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Florida. The kids' crew and I will discuss 00:00:15.556 --> 00:00:22.061 the current ecological status of manatees and learn all about their lives in the seas around 00:00:22.061 --> 00:00:28.026 Florida and elsewhere in the world. We're going to hear a baby manatee talking to its mom. 00:00:28.500 --> 00:00:34.414 And we'll hear some great music celebrating these sea cows of the ocean. This episode 00:00:34.414 --> 00:00:41.288 comes with a learning guide. You can find it at ChildrensHour.org. Look for manatees. The 00:00:41.288 --> 00:00:45.500 Children's Hour is an independent production of The Children's Hour Incorporated, a New 00:00:45.500 --> 00:00:51.224 Mexico-based nonprofit. We're distributed by Native Voice One, the Native American radio 00:00:51.224 --> 00:01:06.943 network. It's time for The Children's Hour. Kids Public Radio. What do get when you mix 00:01:06.943 --> 00:01:15.040 a manatee and a human? I don't know what. A humanity. It's time for The Children's Hour. 00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:20.434 Kids Public Radio. 00:01:39.918 --> 00:01:56.189 This warm water's just right for me, for me. Beneath the mangrove tree swaying side 00:01:56.189 --> 00:02:14.274 to side for me, for me. Down here. Swimming with my friend We kinda look like cows With 00:02:14.274 --> 00:02:29.490 no legs The shallow sea The only place to be A manatee 00:02:35.950 --> 00:02:51.036 Is there still room for me to live with you? Can it be, oh can it be? Must my species 00:02:51.036 --> 00:03:09.089 fade away so soon? Can it be, oh can it be? Down here So women with my friends, we kinda 00:03:09.089 --> 00:03:25.490 look like cows with no The shallow sea is the only place to be A manatee 00:04:24.398 --> 00:04:25.170 He he 00:04:29.646 --> 00:04:42.521 And we've adapted to fresh and salt water habitats We're just gentle mammals looking among some 00:04:42.521 --> 00:04:53.916 grass But we can't turn our heads to see above, left, right or below Or swim fast, so if your 00:04:53.916 --> 00:05:04.067 boat's in shallow water You'd better go real slow The shallow sea, the only place to be 00:05:04.067 --> 00:05:18.584 The shallow sea, the only place to be The shallow sea, the only place to be A manatee 00:05:18.584 --> 00:05:26.957 That was the Whizpops right here on The Children's Hour singing about the topic of the day 00:05:26.957 --> 00:05:32.921 manatees. I'm Katie Stone. I'm delighted to be with everyone in listener land and all of 00:05:32.921 --> 00:05:40.465 these great kids on zoom. Hello, kids crew. Hello. And who do we have with us today? Hello, 00:05:40.465 --> 00:05:47.769 it's Amadeus. Hi, it's Beth. Hi, it's Sonya. Hi, it's Ethan. Hi, it's Lily Mae. Hi, it's Illuminata. 00:05:48.049 --> 00:05:55.425 Hi, it's Melissa. It is Cade. Hi, it's Thaniel. I'm so glad you're all with us today. You 00:05:55.425 --> 00:06:01.099 know, today we're going to be talking about manatees. Do you know anything about manatees, 00:06:01.099 --> 00:06:07.304 really? Well, I know that they live at some places in the sea and they look kind of like 00:06:07.304 --> 00:06:14.851 cows. Sea cows have something to do with manatees. Anybody else? Have you ever heard of manatees 00:06:14.851 --> 00:06:21.571 or seen manatees? I went to visit one at an aquarium. Out in Clearwater, so that's kind 00:06:21.571 --> 00:06:28.473 of fun. You've actually been to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium? Yeah, right when winter 00:06:28.473 --> 00:06:34.895 was around still and hope. That is so cool. In fact, that's who we're going to be talking 00:06:34.895 --> 00:06:40.236 with today. We're going to be talking with Andrea Herman. She's the senior team lead of the education 00:06:40.236 --> 00:06:46.825 wing of the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, where you have seen a manatee, Melissa. This is the 00:06:46.825 --> 00:06:52.517 Children's Hour and this episode comes with a learning guide. It meets national education 00:06:52.517 --> 00:07:00.999 standards. Find it at childrenshour.org. Look for the episode called Manatees. Oh the sky 00:07:00.999 --> 00:07:08.050 is a cloudy ocean full of creatures that fly so free But a poor seahorse would be way off 00:07:08.050 --> 00:07:10.994 course and would rather be in the sea 00:07:15.530 --> 00:07:22.000 Oh the desert is a sandy ocean Full of creatures that play hide and seek But a squid in the 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:26.386 sand can't stay in an end It would rather be in the sea 00:07:30.926 --> 00:07:38.066 Oh, the jungle is a woody ocean full of creatures that swing tree to tree. But a dolphin can't 00:07:38.066 --> 00:07:46.426 swim in the plants and would rather be in the sea. Oh, space is a boundless ocean full of 00:07:46.426 --> 00:07:53.266 creatures that we can't see. But an octopus in weightlessness would still rather be in 00:07:53.266 --> 00:07:53.766 the sea. 00:08:16.824 --> 00:08:23.842 The night is a silent ocean full of creatures that sleep. But a great white shark prefers 00:08:23.842 --> 00:08:27.186 a watery dark and would rather be in the sea. 00:08:32.202 --> 00:09:03.305 That's Casper Baby Pants. You're listening to The Children's Hour and with us today on 00:09:03.305 --> 00:09:11.130 the show is Andrea Herman. She is the senior team lead of the education department of the 00:09:11.130 --> 00:09:17.254 Clearwater Marine Aquarium, which is somewhere in Florida. Hello, welcome to The Children's 00:09:17.254 --> 00:09:22.718 Hour. Hi, thank you so much for having me. Where are you guys? So we are on Clearwater Beach. 00:09:22.718 --> 00:09:27.932 We're on the west coast of Florida, kind of middle of the state. So a little more west 00:09:27.932 --> 00:09:35.122 than Tampa. Well, we are so excited to have you on the show today because to be perfectly 00:09:35.122 --> 00:09:42.864 fair, I think most of us don't know anything about manatees. And I've been asking people, 00:09:42.864 --> 00:09:48.525 what do you know about manatees? And people know like this much if they're not from Florida. 00:09:48.525 --> 00:09:52.827 And when I say this much, I mean, barely any. So we're really excited to have you. And I 00:09:52.827 --> 00:09:58.378 know the kids have tons of questions. I'm going to kick it off with, can you describe What 00:09:58.478 --> 00:10:07.043 is a manatee? So manatees are Florida's largest state mammal. They are an awesome animal. Personally, 00:10:07.183 --> 00:10:12.626 manatees are near and to my heart. They're what got me into marine science. And they are an 00:10:12.626 --> 00:10:18.990 aquatic mammal, so they live in water and only in water. But manatees, unlike a lot of other 00:10:19.150 --> 00:10:25.493 marine mammals, they don't need to be in a marine or saltwater environment. They can 00:10:25.493 --> 00:10:30.806 live in freshwater. salt water or they can live in brackish water, which is a mix of both 00:10:30.806 --> 00:10:35.966 fresh and salt water. And they can move super easily in between each type of environment. 00:10:36.886 --> 00:10:42.866 They are herbivorous or they eat only plants and they can eat about 10 % of their body weight 00:10:42.866 --> 00:10:49.446 every single day, which is a lot of seagrass because manatees can get really, really big. 00:10:50.226 --> 00:10:56.019 They're typically going to be about 800 to 1200 pounds. but there are some really big ones 00:10:56.019 --> 00:11:02.903 that can get to be over 3,000 pounds. And they're typically going to be about 10 to 12 feet, 00:11:02.903 --> 00:11:08.896 but we do have some that can get over 13 feet. How long do manatees live? That is a great 00:11:08.896 --> 00:11:14.050 question. So how long can manatees live? Typically we are finding that they can easily get into 00:11:14.050 --> 00:11:18.952 their thirties, but there was a manatee that spent their entire life in human care and was 00:11:18.952 --> 00:11:24.371 born before all of these laws. His name was Snooty. And Snooty was actually 69 years old 00:11:24.371 --> 00:11:29.253 when he sadly passed away. So they can live for a pretty long time. Where do manatees live 00:11:29.273 --> 00:11:34.495 when it's not winter and the water is warmer? They're going to live all across the state. 00:11:34.495 --> 00:11:39.958 So most waterways, especially if they have lots of seed grass or other plant matter, that's 00:11:39.958 --> 00:11:45.200 usually a chance that manatees can travel through there. But like you kind of mentioned, they're 00:11:45.200 --> 00:11:48.571 not going to be all across the state when our waters are really cold like they are right 00:11:48.571 --> 00:11:55.010 now. Interesting. So when it's winter, they're not all across the state. Where do they go? 00:11:55.650 --> 00:12:02.045 So manatees need to be in waters above 68 degrees Fahrenheit. For anybody who lives where it's 00:12:02.045 --> 00:12:06.838 cold, that doesn't sound all that chilly, but here in Florida, that is very, very cold. And 00:12:06.838 --> 00:12:13.565 so manatees go to natural hot springs like Crystal River or Como Sasa. But along the more coastal 00:12:13.565 --> 00:12:18.769 regions, there are warm water areas and they also take advantage of humans and take advantage 00:12:18.769 --> 00:12:24.326 of our power plants. because a lot of Florida's power plants are water-cooled. So they bring 00:12:24.326 --> 00:12:28.719 that cold river water into the building and that water will cool down all of the systems 00:12:28.939 --> 00:12:33.902 and it comes out nice and warm. So manatees will go to these water outflows by these power 00:12:33.902 --> 00:12:40.096 plants to take advantage of that warm water. What do they eat? Most commonly they're going 00:12:40.096 --> 00:12:44.689 to be eating seagrass. So this is a plant that lives in saltwater. There's freshwater seagrass 00:12:44.689 --> 00:12:49.320 plants as well. They're also going to eat whatever other plant matter they find. So they can be 00:12:49.320 --> 00:12:54.663 eating algaes, like seaweed. If the tide is really high, so there's a lot of water in the 00:12:54.663 --> 00:12:58.736 area, they might eat the grass out of someone's backyard if they can reach it. Those are really 00:12:58.736 --> 00:13:03.119 funny pictures. They might eat leaves off of a tree if they can reach that, but they're 00:13:03.119 --> 00:13:07.462 gonna eat whatever plants they can find. You're listening to The Children's Hour. We're learning 00:13:07.462 --> 00:13:13.557 about manatees with Andrea Herman from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. Don't forget, we've got a 00:13:13.557 --> 00:13:19.945 learning guide for this episode. You can find it at ChildrensHour.org. Just look for Manatees. 00:13:20.446 --> 00:13:26.130 We have lots more coming up, but first, this is MAGPIE. 00:13:32.622 --> 00:13:41.970 I was snorkeling down in the Keys I came upon two manatees I looked at them and they looked 00:13:41.970 --> 00:13:50.237 right at me As they chewed on their dinner of hydril weeds One came over and said to me 00:13:50.237 --> 00:13:58.734 I'll tell you what life is like under the sea My name is Hugh and I'll show to you Just 00:13:58.734 --> 00:14:11.190 what manatees do You the manatee Swimming around from key to key Oh how I wish that 00:14:11.290 --> 00:14:23.465 I could be like you the manatee Like you, the manatee Swimming around the West Indies 00:14:23.465 --> 00:14:34.570 Oh how I wish that I could be Like you, the manatee You said I like to come here and feed 00:14:34.570 --> 00:14:43.104 Among the hyacinths and the seaweed Rooting around in the seagrass beds Washing out fish 00:14:43.104 --> 00:14:51.492 so the herons get fed I like saltwater I also like fresh I don't mind it cool but warm is 00:14:51.492 --> 00:15:01.155 the best When I get tired I take a deep breath and go down on the bottom to rest Like you, 00:15:01.155 --> 00:15:11.594 the manatee Swimming around from key to key Oh how I wish that I could be Like you, the 00:15:11.594 --> 00:15:24.875 manatee You, the manatee Swimming around the West Indies Oh how I wish that I could be 00:15:24.875 --> 00:15:28.658 Like you, the manatee 00:15:57.198 --> 00:16:11.064 Use amenity Swimming around from key to key wish that I could be like you, the manatee 00:16:11.064 --> 00:16:22.840 You, the manatee Swimming around the West Indies Oh, how I wish that I could be like 00:16:22.840 --> 00:16:33.355 you, the manatee It isn't as easy as you might think Cause me and my kind, are almost extinct 00:16:33.495 --> 00:16:42.060 A lot of the places we lived are now gone making it harder to carry on just look at these scars 00:16:42.060 --> 00:16:49.365 on my back they were made by somebody's power boat or a peller blade with boats and pollution 00:16:49.365 --> 00:17:00.813 and trash in my way it's harder to live every day you the manatee it shouldn't be so hard 00:17:00.813 --> 00:17:13.141 to be he's part of you and he's part of me we're We're all humanity. You, the manatee. It 00:17:13.141 --> 00:17:25.170 shouldn't be so hard to be. He's part of you and he's part of me. We're all humanity. 00:17:42.734 --> 00:17:59.546 T Manatee are large, fully aquatic marine mammals Sometimes known as sea cows They measure up 00:17:59.546 --> 00:18:14.186 to 13 feet long That's 4 meters Weigh as much as 1300 pounds Manatee have paddle-like flippers 00:18:14.186 --> 00:18:23.857 They spend half their days sleeping submerged The rest of their time is spent grazing for 00:18:23.857 --> 00:18:29.202 plants, cause manatee are mostly herbivores. 00:18:55.160 --> 00:19:04.338 They inhabit shallow, marshy coastal areas And the rivers of the Caribbean Sea The Gulf 00:19:04.338 --> 00:19:13.586 of Mexico, the Amazon basin And West Africa is where they're most likely to be 00:19:16.610 --> 00:19:30.404 See They can die if they get too cold Their long term memory is rumored to be highly advanced 00:19:30.404 --> 00:19:37.010 And they can live to be up to sixty years old 00:19:44.398 --> 00:19:44.914 you 00:20:06.830 --> 00:20:10.026 Where are you going? You're listening to The Children’s Hour, Kids Public Radio. 00:20:29.774 --> 00:20:35.516 We'll be right back. The Children's Hour is a production of The Children's Hour Incorporated. 00:20:35.596 --> 00:20:41.398 We're a New Mexico based nonprofit organization and we're funded by listeners just like you. 00:20:41.518 --> 00:20:48.180 Learn more at childrenshour.org. The New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs supports The 00:20:48.180 --> 00:20:55.922 Children's Hour. Celebrate the diverse cultures of New Mexico at nmculture.org. 00:21:00.654 --> 00:21:01.330 face 00:21:17.123 --> 00:21:17.746 day 00:21:34.478 --> 00:21:50.275 Save the Florida Manatees giant scares the fishies away. One thousand pounds look scary 00:21:50.275 --> 00:22:03.123 but be not afraid. Cause they eat and they eat and they eat but only the greens. And 00:22:03.123 --> 00:22:07.474 they swim in warm water and sea food 00:22:11.502 --> 00:22:26.444 Be kind We cow, save the Florida manatee It's too cold in Alaska It's too cold in DC 00:22:26.444 --> 00:22:30.969 It's too cold in New Jersey 00:22:34.708 --> 00:22:38.706 is to eat, swim, swim, eat. 00:22:42.122 --> 00:23:10.703 A C You See how safe the Florida manatee of sea See Those... That was Joanie Leeds from her 00:23:10.703 --> 00:23:18.198 What a Zoo release with her Sea Cow song before the break you heard Fire Dog from their Endangered 00:23:18.198 --> 00:23:23.982 Species Project release. Hugh the Manatee was Magpie. This is The Children's Hour. We're 00:23:23.982 --> 00:23:29.616 learning about manatees with the Clearwater Marine Aquarium's lead educator Andrea Herman. 00:23:29.917 --> 00:23:37.418 The kids have a lot of questions. Are manatees related to walruses? This is one of my favorite 00:23:37.418 --> 00:23:43.358 questions personally because looking at them, that's exactly what you'd expect. But manatees 00:23:43.358 --> 00:23:48.858 are kind of weird. They are not related to any other marine mammal except for their cousin 00:23:48.858 --> 00:23:55.298 the dugong. The what? The dugong. That is a very funny animal name, but they are native 00:23:55.298 --> 00:24:01.394 to areas around Australia. There is a Pokemon named after them as well. But they are all 00:24:01.394 --> 00:24:07.477 considered Sirenia or sirens. And they're actually not related to any other marine mammals. So 00:24:07.797 --> 00:24:13.880 dolphins, whales, walruses, seals, otters, they're not related to any of them. The two 00:24:13.880 --> 00:24:22.084 closest cousins to manatees are hyraxes and elephants. Wow, elephants. Elephants. And 00:24:22.584 --> 00:24:28.044 if you think about it, it does kind of make sense. They have very similar skin. They both 00:24:28.044 --> 00:24:32.928 have prehensile facial structures. So elephants have that prehensile trunk and manatee's upper 00:24:32.928 --> 00:24:37.322 lip is prehensile or it means it can move around on its own to hold on to things. So they use 00:24:37.322 --> 00:24:42.086 it to hold on mostly to food. They also have the same number of toenails and they both have 00:24:42.086 --> 00:24:46.530 munching molars or they have teeth that start in the back like our molars and they're constantly 00:24:46.530 --> 00:24:52.945 moving forward because they're wearing down their teeth from chewing on grass. Wow. That's 00:24:52.945 --> 00:25:01.503 a lot to take in there. Now it makes me wonder. Are manatees megafauna, like from the time 00:25:01.563 --> 00:25:09.015 in Earth's history, not too long ago when we had these gigantic mammals, like huge sloths 00:25:09.015 --> 00:25:16.927 and mastodons, are they from that era? I don't believe so. I don't know exactly off the top 00:25:16.927 --> 00:25:22.129 of my head. In today's definition of like megafauna versus microfauna, they would fall into megafauna 00:25:22.129 --> 00:25:28.223 just because they are really big. And they're something that people can tend to picture more 00:25:28.223 --> 00:25:32.194 frequently when they think about animals. And they did have a cousin who is unfortunately 00:25:32.194 --> 00:25:38.287 extinct. That was called Stellar Sea Cow. And this animal was massive. Unfortunately, it 00:25:38.287 --> 00:25:42.069 wasn't very long after they had been discovered that they did go extinct and that was due to 00:25:42.069 --> 00:25:47.461 overfishing. But these animals had a lot of blubber and fat, very similar to like cold 00:25:47.461 --> 00:25:53.996 water whales. And so it was very helpful for like oil lamps and heating sources. And they 00:25:53.996 --> 00:25:59.491 were actually found in the Bering Strait, which is between Alaska and Russia. And remember, 00:25:59.491 --> 00:26:06.867 we're talking manatees that cousins and manatees have to have the warm water. Yup. They were 00:26:06.867 --> 00:26:12.722 really weird. They were very specialized because every other species of sirens have to be in 00:26:12.722 --> 00:26:20.388 warmer waters. Manatees are mammals, so do they lay eggs? There is only one mammal that 00:26:20.388 --> 00:26:28.013 does lay eggs, and that is the platypus. One of the identifiers of a manatee typically is 00:26:28.013 --> 00:26:32.646 going to be that they give live birth. So just like people, these manatees are going to be 00:26:32.646 --> 00:26:39.901 born all alive and ready to go. How many babies does a mama manatee have at once? Typically 00:26:39.901 --> 00:26:44.915 it's one. In some rare cases there are twins. So you'll see two little babies following 00:26:44.915 --> 00:26:52.730 around with her. And of course they're mammals, so they nurse their babies? Yep. So they do 00:26:52.942 --> 00:26:57.796 produce milk and the babies nurse right underneath their armpit of their flippers. So they have 00:26:57.796 --> 00:27:01.449 one on each side. So typically with twins, you'll see them kind of nursing at the same time, 00:27:01.889 --> 00:27:07.414 but with one calf, they'll switch. Do manatees have little families? Like do the, how long 00:27:07.414 --> 00:27:13.058 does the baby stay with the mom? And is there a pod like whales where there's a whole 00:27:13.058 --> 00:27:19.063 bunch of moms or is it a little manatee mom and dad? Unfortunately, once mating happens, 00:27:19.404 --> 00:27:23.653 dad's out of the picture. And you see this a lot in nature. There is parental care though, 00:27:23.653 --> 00:27:29.256 so manatees do spend a few years with mom. Typically it's about four to five years, I 00:27:29.256 --> 00:27:33.098 think. They're typically about five feet long when they leave mom. So you can also kind of 00:27:33.098 --> 00:27:38.580 judge on size. And then they are not social, they're not in little groups? Typically, 00:27:38.580 --> 00:27:44.654 unless it is when they're all kind of piling up in those warm areas or it's a mating herd, 00:27:44.674 --> 00:27:49.947 they are typically fatally anti-social. They're typically by themselves. Occasionally might 00:27:49.947 --> 00:27:54.203 see a couple traveling around together, but that's pretty rare. So it's usually just, 00:27:54.283 --> 00:27:58.965 if it's a mom calf, it's just the mom and calf traveling together. That's Andrea Herman from 00:27:58.965 --> 00:28:04.347 the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. She's the lead educator. There's a lot more to learn about 00:28:04.347 --> 00:28:09.899 manatees, including the conservation efforts that are being done to help save them from 00:28:09.899 --> 00:28:13.050 extinction. But listen to this. 00:28:20.514 --> 00:28:27.569 That's a mommy and baby manatee talking underwater recorded with a hydrophone. You're listening 00:28:27.569 --> 00:28:32.122 to The Children's Hour. We have so much more coming up. You can find a learning guide for 00:28:32.122 --> 00:28:38.586 this episode. Go to childrenshour.org and look for manatees. And that learning guide meets 00:28:38.666 --> 00:28:46.191 education standards nationwide. So our podcasts can be used in classrooms. In the meantime, 00:28:46.312 --> 00:28:57.636 we've got lots more about manatees. Coming right up. Searching for a manatee Ear on manatee 00:28:57.636 --> 00:29:18.995 uh We climbed up a tree Searching for a manatee Came across a monkey And this is what he told 00:29:18.995 --> 00:29:26.988 me If you're searching for a manatee This is the only way You must think you're all big 00:29:26.988 --> 00:29:40.742 a monkey Here on FANATY FET We went to the beach Searching for a manatee Came across a 00:29:40.742 --> 00:29:51.082 turtle And this is what he told me If you're searching for a manatee This is the only way 00:29:51.082 --> 00:29:54.982 You must groove like a turtle Here on Fanaty 00:29:58.190 --> 00:30:04.950 We jumped in the ocean. We jumped in the ocean. Searching for a manatee. Searching for a manatee. 00:30:05.030 --> 00:30:10.870 We came across a stingray. Came across the stingray. And this is what he told me. This is what he 00:30:10.870 --> 00:30:12.290 told me. 00:30:16.050 --> 00:30:26.598 It must wobble like a stingray. Here on Manatee Bay. To the stingray. To the stingray. Do the 00:30:26.598 --> 00:30:36.407 turtle, oh yeah the turtle Do the monkey, uh huh huh We're dancing kind of silly We're 00:30:36.407 --> 00:30:41.932 dancing kind of silly We're searching for the manatee Searching for the manatee Out came 00:30:41.932 --> 00:30:51.173 the manatee Out came the manatee And started dancing with me Now I'm Dancing with the manatee 00:30:51.193 --> 00:30:59.986 on this hot sunny day I can't believe my luck Here on Manatee Bay uh 00:31:09.262 --> 00:31:12.786 wants a pickle and he wants it now 00:31:21.038 --> 00:31:24.466 He's tired of waiting He's a hungry sea cow 00:31:27.488 --> 00:31:28.703 He wants a big pickle 00:31:33.880 --> 00:31:40.825 Delicious for the meandering He wants a big pickle 00:31:45.774 --> 00:31:48.434 Is the big call for humanity 00:32:04.022 --> 00:32:08.882 Inmanatees, is it okay if I take the next verse? Yes, I am the 00:32:12.098 --> 00:32:13.522 You should not be eating a pickle 00:32:33.516 --> 00:32:34.664 He wants a big pickle 00:32:42.094 --> 00:32:43.058 Don't give him the pickle 00:33:01.772 --> 00:33:08.728 That's Perry Gripp with his Manatee demanding a pickle song and Manatee Bay before that from 00:33:08.728 --> 00:33:15.933 Splash'N Boots. That's the title track of their Manatee Bay release. We're doing a show 00:33:15.933 --> 00:33:21.048 about manatees today. We have a learning guide guide posted at childrenshour.org. We have 00:33:21.048 --> 00:33:25.791 a lot more questions from the kids on our crew. Let's go to Thaniel. You talked a little bit 00:33:25.791 --> 00:33:32.599 about manatee behaviors earlier. So how smart do you think manatees are? Unfortunately with 00:33:32.599 --> 00:33:38.773 animals, we don't have an exact way to test intelligence. It's kind of like comparing different 00:33:38.773 --> 00:33:42.396 people with different learning abilities. And it's not something that we are able to do with 00:33:42.396 --> 00:33:48.430 science currently. A lot of people think that if an animal is trainable, it is intelligent 00:33:48.450 --> 00:33:54.094 and manatees are very food motivated. So they are trainable. So you can train them to do 00:33:54.094 --> 00:34:00.244 specific husbandry behaviors if they are living in human care for a long period of time. And 00:34:00.244 --> 00:34:06.060 husbandry behaviors are those that help with their care. So it helps make doing vet 00:34:06.060 --> 00:34:11.304 appointments easier and it helps them kind of take part in how they're taken care of. Do 00:34:11.304 --> 00:34:18.311 manatees live all over the world? So with all Sirenia or kind of all of the different 00:34:18.631 --> 00:34:24.456 overall groups, they're found in North and South America. They're found in parts of Africa 00:34:24.456 --> 00:34:29.775 and they're found around Australia. the extant or the currently existing species of manatees 00:34:29.775 --> 00:34:33.754 are not going to be found anywhere where there's really cold water. So typically they're going 00:34:33.754 --> 00:34:39.329 to be nice and around the equator. When did manatees evolve and what were some of their 00:34:39.329 --> 00:34:45.842 ancestors? I know it was a few million years ago and their shared ancestor I don't know 00:34:45.842 --> 00:34:51.414 off the top of my head unfortunately but it was the shared ancestor between sirens and 00:34:51.414 --> 00:34:58.548 elephants. It's where they were back on land where they start to branch off into elephants 00:34:58.548 --> 00:35:03.861 being land animals and then your sirens and the sirens break down into your dugongs, which 00:35:03.861 --> 00:35:08.543 included stellar sea cow and then your manatees, which include the West Indian manatee, which 00:35:08.543 --> 00:35:13.676 is the Florida manatee, your Amazonian manatees, which are found in the Amazon river and your 00:35:13.676 --> 00:35:19.210 West African manatees, which are found throughout Africa. Are manatees friendly? Like if I was 00:35:19.210 --> 00:35:26.432 swimming in these nice warm waters around Florida, And I just was so lucky and I swam right next 00:35:26.432 --> 00:35:32.467 to a manatee. Could I like pet it? Are they friendly? That is a great question. So are 00:35:32.467 --> 00:35:37.050 manatees friendly? Could you pet one if you found one? Manatees are very curious. So they 00:35:37.050 --> 00:35:43.045 do kind of tend towards like a friendly disposition if you were to put human terms to it. But 00:35:43.045 --> 00:35:46.587 there's a couple of reasons why you don't want to try to touch one. The biggest reason is 00:35:46.587 --> 00:35:51.823 because they are protected by a lot of laws that say that's illegal. So there's a lot of 00:35:51.823 --> 00:35:59.070 fines, there could be jail time, it's not worth it. But they do tend to be pretty friendly. 00:35:59.110 --> 00:36:03.665 But if you do spook a manatee, because they're not expecting you or anything like that, you 00:36:03.665 --> 00:36:11.212 can get really, really hurt. These animals are massive. So it could lead to you getting 00:36:11.416 --> 00:36:15.518 kind of rolled into, you could get hit by their tail and that's the no-no zone. That is where 00:36:15.518 --> 00:36:19.381 the most strength in a manatee comes from and that is the area when any of us are rescuing 00:36:19.381 --> 00:36:25.604 manatees that we want to avoid. Okay, so don't pet the manatees is the advice we're getting 00:36:25.604 --> 00:36:32.148 from Andrea Herman, who is the senior team leader of the education department at the Clearwater 00:36:32.148 --> 00:36:39.086 Marina Aquarium. They specialize in saving manatees. You're listening to The Children's Hour. This 00:36:39.086 --> 00:36:44.640 episode comes with a learning guide. You can find it at childrenshour.org. Look for this 00:36:44.640 --> 00:36:56.780 episode title, Manatees. From time to time I dream that I'm a manatee, undulating underneath 00:36:56.780 --> 00:37:07.000 the sea, unshackled by the chains of idle vanity, a modest manatee, that's me. I look just 00:37:07.000 --> 00:37:15.603 like a chubby brown bananity As I nose along the cozy ocean floor Immune from human folly 00:37:15.603 --> 00:37:24.535 and inanity That's why a manatee is such a happy herby bore I'm a manatee I'm a manatee 00:37:24.535 --> 00:37:33.327 I'm every bit as wrinkled as my granity No difference between my face and fanatee A noble 00:37:33.327 --> 00:37:35.858 manatee That's me 00:37:40.396 --> 00:37:48.878 with the dietary habits of a manatee. I never fail to lick my platter clean. I sprinkle 00:37:48.878 --> 00:37:57.525 seaweed on my raisin brannity. The perfect manatee, cuisine With my wit, sophistication, 00:37:57.525 --> 00:38:07.249 and urbanity I dignify my watery domain No one near will ever hear me use profanity Because 00:38:07.249 --> 00:38:16.824 a manatee has his image to maintain I'm a manatee, I'm a manatee I keep my reputation, spick 00:38:16.824 --> 00:38:25.081 and spannety No difference between my face and fanatee A street humanity, that's me. 00:38:25.081 --> 00:38:34.850 Encombered by my lumbering giganity, oh I'm thought to be an ocean going brrrroo- least 00:38:34.850 --> 00:38:43.787 appealing creature on the planet-y but to a man-ity I'm cute I prefer my world of silence 00:38:43.787 --> 00:38:51.834 and of sanity but my underwater friends don't all agree for whenever I am dreaming I'm a 00:38:51.834 --> 00:39:01.652 man-ity somewhere a man-ity is dreaming that he's me. I'm a manatee, I'm a manatee. Outside 00:39:01.652 --> 00:39:09.905 the fold of boring old humanity, no difference between my face and vanity. I'm a roly-poly, 00:39:09.905 --> 00:39:21.138 jelly-roly, sugar-bully, heart-and-soul-emanatee. That's me! uh 00:39:26.848 --> 00:39:33.120 I'm a Manatee is John Lithgow from sunny side of the street. You're listening to The Children's 00:39:33.120 --> 00:39:39.321 Hour today. We're talking about manatees. We've made a learning guide for this episode, which 00:39:39.321 --> 00:39:45.183 you can find at children's hour.org. You can also see pictures of manatees, pictures of 00:39:45.183 --> 00:39:52.955 baby manatees and what manatees look like from above the water. You're listening to 00:39:52.955 --> 00:39:58.875 The Children's Hour kids, public radio. We'll be right back. The Children's Hour is making 00:39:58.875 --> 00:40:04.818 weekly learning guides for every episode thanks to the support of the Albuquerque Community 00:40:04.818 --> 00:40:11.242 Foundation. You can support this effort too. Go to childrenshour.org and click donate 00:40:11.242 --> 00:40:17.275 and find our learning guides under our podcast menu. Many thanks to the Outpost Performance 00:40:17.275 --> 00:40:23.273 Space for hosting The Children's Hour. Support for The Children's Hour provided by New Mexico 00:40:23.273 --> 00:40:28.634 Arts, a division of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs and by the National Endowment 00:40:28.634 --> 00:40:33.926 for the Arts. Support for The Children's Hour provided by the City of Albuquerque Cultural 00:40:33.926 --> 00:40:42.708 Services Department and the Urban Enhancement Trust Fund. I like all of the podcasts because 00:40:42.708 --> 00:40:50.455 they help me learn a lot. I'm Brooklyn Elder from Albuquerque. Find hundreds of educational 00:40:50.455 --> 00:40:57.918 podcasts at childrenshour.org or anywhere you listen to podcasts. Look for The Children's 00:40:57.918 --> 00:41:14.385 Hour. Mary Manatee is gentle and she's free She's trusting you and me to keep her safe 00:41:14.385 --> 00:41:23.541 from harm They came to be right after dinosaurs Think back, think back, think back, think 00:41:23.541 --> 00:41:31.373 back some more For years and years and years they ate their greens And did their part to 00:41:31.373 --> 00:41:44.085 keep the water clean But when a speedboat speeds It can hurt the manatees So if you're driving 00:41:44.085 --> 00:42:02.468 slow down please And watch out for manatees Mary Manatee is gentle and she's free She's 00:42:02.468 --> 00:42:14.196 trusting you and me to keep her safe from harm Two big flippers, a white tail and back 00:42:14.196 --> 00:42:24.135 Help her to get around and get her snack She loves to bodysurf and barrel roll At a thousand 00:42:24.135 --> 00:42:36.745 pounds that's quite incredible But when a speedboat speeds It can hurt the manatees So if you're 00:42:36.745 --> 00:42:55.587 driving slow down please And watch out for manatees m She's gentle and she's free She's 00:42:55.587 --> 00:43:07.356 trusting you and me To keep her safe from harm And they grow so very large and round 00:43:07.356 --> 00:43:16.884 That some people call them sea cows I think it's funny but they say it's true Although 00:43:16.884 --> 00:43:29.594 I never heard a manatee moo But when a speedboat speeds It can hurt the manatees So if you 00:43:29.594 --> 00:43:46.150 drive and slow down, please And watch out for manatees Mary Manatee is gentle and she's 00:43:46.150 --> 00:44:00.504 free She's trusting you and me to keep her safe from harm In nineteen hundred and seventy-five 00:44:00.504 --> 00:44:11.141 School children got them classified As endangered species they survived And now they are our 00:44:11.141 --> 00:44:23.184 joy and pride But when a speedboat speeds It can hurt the manatees So if you're driving 00:44:23.184 --> 00:44:38.029 slow down please And watch out for manatees And watch out for manatees. Mary Manatee is 00:44:38.029 --> 00:44:44.682 Dorothy Cresswell from her Pelican Pilot Songs of Florida release. Over the break, you heard 00:44:44.682 --> 00:44:53.057 Piero Umiliani. That's the original Mah na mah na mixtape with Space Manamana. You're listening 00:44:53.057 --> 00:44:58.960 to The Children's Hour. learning about manatees today with Andrea Herman from the Clearwater 00:44:58.960 --> 00:45:07.348 Marina Aquarium. How many manatees are there? So there are a few thousand manatees. For a 00:45:07.348 --> 00:45:13.421 very long time, starting back in the 70s or 80s, manatees were considered endangered due 00:45:13.421 --> 00:45:18.703 to their population. So they were on the brink of extinction. And through conservation, which 00:45:18.703 --> 00:45:22.675 we'll talk about more a little bit later, we were able to help bring their population in 00:45:22.675 --> 00:45:28.237 the wild back up to the point where in 2017, the federal government here in the US decided 00:45:28.237 --> 00:45:33.819 that Florida manatees were considered threatened rather than endangered. There is talk now within 00:45:33.819 --> 00:45:38.671 the last couple of years, especially with the UME or that unusual mortality event happening 00:45:38.991 --> 00:45:45.023 that they may need to reconsider. Other organizations like the IUCN, which comes out kind of with 00:45:45.023 --> 00:45:49.664 the official global status for animals, their research is a little bit old for looking 00:45:49.664 --> 00:45:55.245 at these numbers. They're still considered endangered on their status. But like I said, that research 00:45:55.245 --> 00:45:59.827 is over 10 years old now. So the numbers are a little out of date, but this is something 00:45:59.827 --> 00:46:05.294 that we will need to look into. Unfortunately, last year alone, we lost over 1000 manatees. 00:46:05.678 --> 00:46:13.260 So let's talk about that. I read manatees are dying at an unprecedented rate. What is happening 00:46:13.260 --> 00:46:19.242 with manatees? It's kind of a mix of man-made threats and natural threats. So as we already 00:46:19.242 --> 00:46:24.693 talked about, manatees need to be in warm water. So water is above 68 degrees Fahrenheit. So 00:46:24.693 --> 00:46:29.644 if they get a little turned around, their timeline's a little lost, or we have a random cold snap, 00:46:29.685 --> 00:46:34.776 manatees can suffer from something called cold stress, which is kind of like hypothermia in 00:46:34.776 --> 00:46:40.418 people. So they're gonna get really slow and sleepy or lethargic. They might get some white 00:46:40.418 --> 00:46:44.921 patches on their skin, which is called skin bleaching. And it can even turn into big cuts 00:46:44.921 --> 00:46:48.945 or lesions. And they tend to stop eating as well. So they're gonna lose a lot of weight. 00:46:49.225 --> 00:46:53.338 That's something we've seen year in, year out. And it just tends to be worse in our winter 00:46:53.338 --> 00:46:58.192 months. They're also highly likely to get hit by boats if people aren't paying attention. 00:46:58.713 --> 00:47:03.146 Manatees like to live in shallow waters. Typically when they breathe, it's only their little nose 00:47:03.146 --> 00:47:09.189 that comes up to the surface rather than their giant body. And it's very fast, little breath, 00:47:09.189 --> 00:47:13.380 so you don't see them very often. And they're very slow. It is very common for them to get 00:47:13.380 --> 00:47:19.552 hit by boats. It's actually so common that their boat strikes are how we ID them. You mean, like 00:47:19.552 --> 00:47:26.204 scars from boats hitting them? Yep. Boat scar patterns are typically how we ID manatees. 00:47:26.444 --> 00:47:30.775 Each has their own individual scar pattern. Not all of their scars are from boats. It can 00:47:30.775 --> 00:47:36.416 be from quite literally anything in their life. But more common than not the really identifiable 00:47:36.416 --> 00:47:43.648 ones are boat scars. They are also dealing with a natural algae called red tide. And so it's 00:47:43.648 --> 00:47:48.790 going to affect the seagrass that they eat. So they lose out on their food. It's a respiratory 00:47:48.790 --> 00:47:53.961 irritant. So it makes breathing really hard. And if they eat it, it acts as a neurotoxin. 00:47:53.961 --> 00:47:59.663 So they get a little loopy and also it can get them really, really sick. But what we're seeing 00:47:59.663 --> 00:48:05.203 the biggest increase in is starvation or there's not enough food. So the UME that I've talked 00:48:05.203 --> 00:48:11.167 about is specifically for the East coast of Florida in the Indian River Lagoon area. Unfortunately, 00:48:11.167 --> 00:48:17.821 in the last couple of years, they have lost a lot of their natural seagrass beds. But unfortunately, 00:48:17.821 --> 00:48:22.785 it's to a point now where there is not enough food in these warm water areas. So we're sending 00:48:22.785 --> 00:48:27.118 teams across the state to help out with that, help out the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. 00:48:27.478 --> 00:48:31.991 They're kind of in charge of all manatee care throughout the state. So that's where most 00:48:31.991 --> 00:48:37.553 of those numbers are coming from. Last year alone, we lost over 600 manatees just to the 00:48:37.553 --> 00:48:42.564 UME. So you mentioned earlier that there are several species of manatees. Some are now gone. 00:48:42.564 --> 00:48:48.016 Some are still here. Does the endangerment of manatees, does that apply to all of the 00:48:48.016 --> 00:48:54.137 species or a specific few? Each species is actually threatened or endangered at this point. They 00:48:54.137 --> 00:48:59.699 all kind of suffer from the same threats throughout the world. But here at the aquarium, we specifically 00:48:59.699 --> 00:49:05.055 work with the two subspecies of West Indian manatees. So that's the Florida manatee here 00:49:05.256 --> 00:49:10.741 around the state and even up the coast a little bit. And then there are other subspecies, the 00:49:10.741 --> 00:49:16.266 Antillean manatee. So they are all dealing with the same types of threats. It's just what 00:49:16.266 --> 00:49:21.711 are more prevalent in each country. So motorboats not being as common in some of these areas, 00:49:21.711 --> 00:49:26.265 it's a lot less common for manatees to have boat strikes, for example. What can people 00:49:26.265 --> 00:49:32.892 do who don't live anywhere near the manatees habitats? You definitely can kind of make 00:49:32.892 --> 00:49:38.136 changes yourself at home. So no matter how far away you are from an ocean, a river doesn't 00:49:38.136 --> 00:49:44.301 matter. The way you affect your own water in your area can actually affect the oceans. So 00:49:44.301 --> 00:49:49.145 making sure you're taking care of your environment and that will help the environment around you. 00:49:49.145 --> 00:49:53.649 So making sure you're throwing out your trash properly. It's not just going to blow around. 00:49:53.949 --> 00:49:58.213 If you're recycling, making sure you're following your local recycling rules. So some places 00:49:58.213 --> 00:50:03.811 can take only very specific. materials, others are a lot more generous in what they can take 00:50:03.811 --> 00:50:08.204 because they do have the resources to do that. So making sure you're recycling responsibly 00:50:08.384 --> 00:50:13.217 using multi-use materials instead of single use. So reusable grocery bags, reusable 00:50:13.217 --> 00:50:18.221 water bottles, things like that. Where you're making those little switches to stop 00:50:18.221 --> 00:50:23.004 using as many single use products that will end up in a landfill, hopefully, if not, unfortunately 00:50:23.004 --> 00:50:28.718 waterways, little changes like that alone can make big changes out here in our coastal regions. 00:50:28.974 --> 00:50:35.860 What got you interested in marine science and working with manatees? So when I was a 00:50:35.860 --> 00:50:41.194 little kid, I went to Florida. originally from outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. And 00:50:41.194 --> 00:50:47.760 I saw a manatee missing most of its tail, living in human care. And from then on, they've been 00:50:47.760 --> 00:50:54.196 my favorite animal and I have wanted to work with them ever since. Wow. Thank you very much 00:50:54.196 --> 00:51:00.887 for taking the time to be with us. Andrea Herman is the senior team lead educator at 00:51:00.887 --> 00:51:10.023 the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. You can learn a lot more about the aquarium at cmaquarium.org. 00:51:10.223 --> 00:51:15.430 Thank you so much for taking the time and being with us on The Children's Hour. Yeah, thank 00:51:15.430 --> 00:51:31.743 you so much for having me. Thank you for all of your amazing questions. Vanity, manatee, 00:51:31.743 --> 00:51:39.097 living peacefully Where the river meets the ocean estuary Down in Florida by the Everglades 00:51:39.158 --> 00:51:49.369 You can find her munching on the grassy place Go pink, green! She's team in a team living 00:51:49.369 --> 00:51:56.321 in the sea Doesn't need money or a pedigree All she really needs is a safe habitat Where 00:51:56.321 --> 00:52:01.970 the water is warm and the land is flat 00:52:05.102 --> 00:52:28.067 you Manatee, manatee, swimming in the sea Let her live her life, we can all agree Slow 00:52:28.067 --> 00:52:34.546 her boats down and try to help her out So there will always be some manatees about 00:52:39.175 --> 00:52:47.154 Swim on, manatee! Oh, there's some good-looking manatees over there! Mmm 00:53:32.353 --> 00:53:32.692 00:53:36.042 --> 00:53:37.810 and the sky. 00:53:45.223 --> 00:53:48.978 I you swim so beautifully 00:53:56.590 --> 00:54:02.610 same ways I've seen you jump through the sea 00:54:10.638 --> 00:54:13.842 Just a pirate like me 00:54:19.854 --> 00:54:21.938 I thought 00:54:27.828 --> 00:54:39.858 See once I thought you in the sea. 00:55:28.494 --> 00:55:36.759 That's Captain Bogg & Salty from Bedtime Stories for Pirates with Manatee. And you're listening 00:55:36.759 --> 00:55:43.042 to The Children's Hour. We learned so much today and I hope you did too. You can see pictures 00:55:43.042 --> 00:55:48.706 and so much more at childrenshour.org under this Manatee episode, including our learning 00:55:48.706 --> 00:55:55.029 guide. Tell a teacher our podcasts are available everywhere. We're going to go out with one 00:55:55.029 --> 00:56:01.442 more. This is. Batters Be Duo from a CD called A Baker's Dozen right here on The Children's 00:56:01.442 --> 00:56:02.546 Hour. 00:56:10.798 --> 00:56:16.946 I'm singing my song I eat river grasses all day long oh 00:56:30.734 --> 00:56:32.822 I swim all day 00:56:39.560 --> 00:56:42.994 I'm a man, man, man of deep 00:56:53.353 --> 00:56:53.961 you 00:56:58.830 --> 00:57:11.470 Say I'm cute, I'm ten feet long Adorable when I'm swimming along I never tire of wild and 00:57:11.470 --> 00:57:16.070 free I'm a well-known singer down in Tennessee 00:57:40.599 --> 00:57:41.522 Giant 00:57:47.092 --> 00:57:48.946 Cindy Dump! 00:57:53.518 --> 00:57:54.289 you 00:57:58.926 --> 00:58:04.447 The Children's Hour is produced by The Children's Hour Incorporated, a New Mexico nonprofit. 00:58:04.468 --> 00:58:11.149 You can find photos, playlists, learning guides, and activities for every episode at ChildrensHour.org. 00:58:11.149 --> 00:58:15.811 This episode of The Children's Hour was written and produced by me, Katie Stone, with production 00:58:15.811 --> 00:58:22.452 help from Christina Stella, Sarah Gabrielli, McKenzie Graunke, and Thaniel Lentz. Our learning 00:58:22.452 --> 00:58:29.587 guides are written by Amber Shiel. You can find this one at ChildrensHour.org. Look for Manatees. 00:58:29.587 --> 00:58:36.212 Find our podcast wherever you listen to podcasts or go to our patreon.com slash The Children's 00:58:36.212 --> 00:58:42.768 Hour or ask your smart speaker to play The Children's Hour podcast. Our theme music was 00:58:42.768 --> 00:58:49.544 written by C.K. Barlow. The Children's Hour is distributed by Native Voice One, the Native 00:58:49.544 --> 00:58:57.030 American radio network. Thanks for listening to The Children's Hour, Kids Public Radio. © 2026 The Children’s Hour Inc. All Rights Reserved.