11/01/2016 10:29 AM EDT
Happy Manatee Awareness Month! These gentle giants – nicknamed “sea cows” for their diet of seagrass and other aquatic plants – can reach lengths of over 14 feet and weigh more than 3,000 pounds! Early explorers once mistook manatees, which have large, spoon-shaped tails, for young women, fueling legends of mermaids. Photo at Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge in Florida by Keith Ramos, USFWS.
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