Manatees Of Orange Beach, Alabama
Orange Beach, Alabama has its share of exciting marine life that show up from time to time. This year is no exception. We were pleased to see the arrival of several pods of Manatees in Orange Beach and Mobile Bay areas this September. While sightings are slim, we are always looking out for these wonderful prehistoric wonders. The best way to see a manatee is on a dolphin tour or a sailing charter in Orange Beach. Our sail boat is quiet and does not scare the marine mammals like Dolphins and Manatees.
The Manatees that inhabit the bays and estuaries of Orange Beach, Alabama are properly named West Indian Manatees. They are very slow-moving and are often in the way of boat traffic and sometimes are hit by moving propellers of boats. Alabama Manatees are gentle by nature and are often very curious about their surroundings. Just the other day we saw one surface and blow air from her nostrils which shocked us. We were moving slowly and before we knew it, she and a calf surfaced and gently submerged before we could get a good picture. They were right in the Alabama point pass.
Most of the Manatees are found in Florida but recently have been found in the saltwater estuaries and bays of Alabama and Mississippi. Researchers from the Dauphin Island Sea Lab are currently tracking these Sea Cows as they move about the local waters. If you see a sea cow or Manatee, please call the Dauphin Island Sea Lab at 1.866.493.5803.
For those of you who do not know about Manatees, they are the closest relatives to elephants. Their bodies are shaped like a cigar and have a paddle shaped tail similar to a beaver. Manatees skin is very thick. The color of the skin is either gray or brown. Algea and barnacles do grow on their skin. They eat vegetation. They have big teeth like elephans to grind their food. They eat on average, a hundred pound of vegetation a day.