Watch this video about a diver swimming with a manatee!
Video Transcript
Weighing in at over 400 kilos and up to 3 meters long, this animal is no small fry.
In fact, one of its closest land relatives is the elephant. But because it spends so much of its time cruising around the murky waters of the mangroves, you don't often get to see it in all its glory.
Out here on the reef has to be the best place to see it. Not just because of the clarity of the water, but because Belize is perhaps one of the last strongholds for this animal. It's the Antillean manatee.
Protected in Belize since 1930, there is still much we don't know about this normally shy and elusive animal.
We do know that everywhere it's found, it's endangered. And we know it's the only marine mammal that grazes solely on plants, hence its other name, the sea cow.
They're certainly well adapted to life in the sea, able to hold their breath for up to 20 minutes, a time that puts my six minutes to shame. And they can use each lung individually to help control their buoyancy to perfection.
Oh, that was fabulous. I can see why they call them sea cows. They look so much more like mermaids. Fantastic.
There are almost as many myths connected to manatees as facts. Could they be responsible for the sailors' old stories of mermaids?
Could a glimpse of that tail breaking the surface lead to even taller tales of sea serpents, sirens, and mermaids luring sailors away from their ships?
I'll let you be the judge of that.