Wild Life

 

The gentle, slow moving mammals are a wintertime attraction in Southwest Florida. Susceptible to colder temperatures, the migratory species are drawn by the region’s relatively warm waters. Manatees favor shallow, slow-moving rivers, estuaries, saltwater bays, canals and coastal areas.

 

Eating, resting and traveling dominate the large, gray animal’s time. Manatees are herbivores, eating more than 60 different species of aquatic and semi-aquatic plants. They commonly consume 10-percent-to-15 percent of their body weight daily in vegetation. They can grow to over 13 feet in length and weigh up to 3,500 pounds. Lengths of 10-12 feet and weights of 1.000 – 1,500 pounds for adults are typical.

 

Despite their size, manatees are quite agile in the water. They use their flippers and tail to steer. Moving the tail up and down propels its body forward through the water. Manatees can swim vertically and upside down, do rolls and perform aquatic somersaults. Extra-dense bones enable them to stay suspended at or below the water’s surface.

 

In ancient times, sailors mistook them for mermaids or sirens on account of their long tails.

 

Once-plentiful, manatees have become quite rate in the United States, with perhaps only 2,500 remaining. Manatees are protected by the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and the Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act of 1978.

 

 

Bald eagles are anything but bald and they are a presence in Southwest Florida.

 

Marco Island has a nesting pair and two eaglets residing in an Australian Pine Tree on Tract K, located off Tigertail Court.

 

Bald eagles can live up to 30 years in the wild, and they mate for life. They are dedicated to their mate, but if tragedy strikes, the resilient birds choose another mate without hesitation.

 

Their nests can weigh up to two tons and be a maximum of nine-feet wide.

 

Protection measures prohibit killing of the birds. The act also bars contact with them, including possessing a fallen feather.

 

Loggerhead sea turtles are the most common nesting turtle in Florida and a common sight in Collier County.

 

Their name stems from the size of their head, which can reach 10 inches wide.

 

Adult loggerheads can weigh hundreds of pounds and they have powerful jaws to crush the heavy-shelled clams, crabs and crustaceans they regularly eat.

 

Each summer from May through August, female loggerheads lay their eggs in holes they dig on the same beach where they were hatched.

 

After roughly a two-month incubation period, a cluster of tiny hatchlings emerges from the sand and scrambles to the Gulf of Mexico, using the moon’s reflection on the water as a guide.

 

Pollution, lighted beaches, loss of nesting habitat and drowning in fishing nets has decimated their ranks. The Federal Endangered Species Act lists the loggerhead as a threatened species.