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Information
The
Manatee is where the legend of mermaids was started.
Spanish sailors in Florida were away from their native
spain and had not seen women for months or years at
a time. When they saw the manatee they became delerious
and thought they had seen a mermaid. The greatest threat
to manatees are motorboats because they often kill or
wound the animal because it is a mammal and needs to
breath air just like us. When the Manatee goes up to
the surface for air the boats often clip their backs.
There are other reasons that the manatee population
numbers have fallen since it's discovery. In the 16th
century the American Manatee was hunted to reduced numbers.
It's meat, hide, oil and bones were considered very
valuable by many people at the time.Many people think
that the Manatee is only found in Florida, but that
is not true. There are other subspecies of manatee found
throughout South America and Africa as well.
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