For those of you who have never seen these or heard of these glorious animals before, Manatees are slow-moving aquatic herbivores that live in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the Amazon Basin, and West Africa. They're naturally gentle, curious animals with an enjoyment for warm water and both of these things lead to the unfortunate early death of many manatees.
Specifically in Florida, there are currently only between 1,000 and 3,000 manatees. Though the manatee has no known predators, manatees are being killed or mutilated at an alarming rate due to human fault. In 2006 alone, there were 300 reported manatee deaths due to human activity, most of which was caused by boats, being crushed in canals, and some illegal poaching, despite being on the U.S. endangered species list. They are also frequently harassed in their natural habitat by swimmers and snorkelers.
So if you love manatees or just hate all the assholes running animals over with their speedboats in Florida, you'll want to visit Fine Arts 212 on December 9th for some fun. More details and reminders to come as the date approaches.
For more information about how you can help manatees (and some awesome manatee merch like manatee soap, manatee socks, manatee mugs) , please visit: www.savethemanatee.org
And for the lighter side of manatees:
Jim Gaffigan's manatee joke
Conan O'Brien's Horny Manatee site
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