er wouldview a water source in the middle of the dessert, sacred. After finishing lunch, thegraceful manatee proceeded to pick a spot in the corner of the tank and lazily continuedhis afternoon.A manatee is not a well known animal, in fact, many of us probably never heardof such a creature. The first encounter with the manatee is believed to have occurredbetween the manatee and Christopher Columbus. When traveling in 1493, Columbussited in the New World waters three creatures that he believed were mermaids. But infact, “they were not the wondrous bare-breasted, fish tailed temptations of every ancientmariner’s dream. They were manatees.”(Fichtner). Columbus made an entry in hisjournal regarding his encounter with the ‘mermaids’ that stated “They were not asbeautiful as they are painted, since in some ways they have a face like a man.”(Fichtner). It’s difficult for me to comprehend how a 1200 pound creature could be mistaken for amystical mermaid, and presumably a person today would not come to that conclusionafter making the same observations as Columbus did, but it’s very likely that we wouldnot know what creature was in front of us. It is believed that Protosiren, which is an ancestor of the manatee, emerged about50 million years ago, and today the product of Protosirens, the manatee still exist(Fichetner). Manatees are not fish, but marine animals (U.S.). A West Indian manateelooks like a very large walrus with a body that is full in the middle and narrows to apaddle shaped tail. It’s about ten feet long on average, and approximately 1200 lbs., butcan grow up to 3500 pounds. Unlike many other animals, female manatees are generallylarger than males (Sea World). These massive animals have agile forelimbs that havethree to four toe nails on each, which they use to swim in the shallow water that theyreside in. Manatees have very sensitive skin that reacts to touch...
